Cheese Souffle - not as hard as it looks!

Our fluffy soufflés and my husbands excited face!

Soufflés have somehow acquired legendary status as a dish that only the most confident and experienced chefs can create. Looking at recipes, I thought that it didn't sound too difficult  - that with just a bit of extra attention and care they would come out just fine.

My sister-in-law Erin and I decided to test this theory one day, and put together a meal with cheese soufflé as the star! As you can see, it was a success! Those little babies puffed right up, and tasted great too!! They do fall rather quickly (though not as quickly as Dutch Babies) but are delicious no matter what state they are in. The key is to have everything prepared ahead of time as much as possible. Measure out all your ingredients, separate the eggs, etc. It will be worth it, I promise!

We served our soufflés with a lightly dressed caprese salad, and fantastic sausages dunked in a garlic aioli. The recipe we used was the goat cheese soufflé from Alice Waters' book, The Art of Simple Food.

6 tbsp butter, divided
3 tbsp flour
1 cup milk
salt
fresh-ground pepper
pinch of cayenne
1 thyme sprig, leaves only
4 eggs
4 oz. goat cheese

1) Preheat the oven to 375 and butter a 1-quart souffle dish or 4 small ramekins with remaining 1 tbsp butter.
2) Melt 5 tbsp butter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Stir in flour and cook for 2 minutes. Little by little, whisking thoroughly between additions, stir in milk. Season the bechamel with salt, pepper, cayenne and thyme. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and cool slightly.
3) Separate the eggs, stirring the yolks into the white sauce. Add the goat cheese to the sauce.
4) Whip the egg whites into moist firm peaks. Stir 1/3 of the whites into the souffle base. Then gently fold the base into the rest of the egg whites, taking care not to deflate them. Pour the mixture into the buttered dish and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until puffed and golden, but still soft in the center and jiggly when shaken gently. (Halve the bake time if baking in smaller dishes.)

We're so excited!!