28 July 2016

Le soufflé au fromage de Mme Pépin

A couple of days ago I harvested a big bunch of chard leaves out in the garden and decided to make Madame Pépin's cheese soufflé with them. Her son Jacques, the famous Franco-American cook and TV personality, gives the recipe and an anecdote about it in his book The Apprentice: My Life in the Kitchen.


Jacques Pépin writes that when his mother got married at age 17, she didn't know how to cook more than a few very simple dishes. "Yet, she was willing and fearless," he continues. "My father liked cheese souffle', so my mother graciously obliged. She had never made a soufflé before, but a friend told her that it consisted of white sauce (béchamel), grated cheese, and eggs — a cinch!"

Jeannette Pépin proceeded to make a béchamel sauce (butter, flour, and milk) and then mixed in some grated Swiss cheese. She added eggs one by one, stirring everything together. She poured the mixture into a gratin dish and baked it in the oven. Voilà !

"No one had told her that the eggs should be separated, with the yolks added to the base sauce and the whites whipped to a firm consistency and then gently folded into the mixture." Pépin concludes: "Ignorance is bliss, and in this case, it was indeed; the soufflé rose to a golden height and became a family favorite." And it's a recipe or method that I keep coming back to, in the kitchen and on this blog.

And there you have it. Make a béchamel sauce using 6 tablespoons (90 grams) of butter and 6 tablespoons (60 grams) of flour. Let it cook for a few seconds, stirring it well, and then pour in 2 cups (480 milliliters) of whole milk all at once. Cook it until the sauce is thickened and then let it cool down for 10 minutes before adding 2½ cups (about 180 grams) of grated cheese (Comté, Cheddar, Gruyère, or Cantal, for example) and 5 large or 6 medium eggs, beaten.

Stir everything together well and pour the egg mixture into a buttered (or oiled, or non-stick) baking pan and cook it for 30 to 40 minutes in the oven at 400ºF (200ºC). It will rise and top will turn golden brown. Eat it while it's hot and before it falls.So where's the chard? Before starting to make the soufflé, chop and cook fresh chard leaves in butter or with bacon until it's done, and then stir it warm or cold into the soufflé mixture before you pour it into the baking dish. Instant chard soufflé with cheese. No muss, no fuss.

Use spinach if you don't have chard, or some other cooked vegetable (grated zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, etc.), fresh or frozen. In my case, I added smoked pork belly lardons along with the chard, which I had cooked with some diced shallots. My photos don't match up perfectly with the text, but I think you get the idea. Here's a link to the recipe for a slightly smaller version of the soufflé, using spinach.

20 comments:

  1. It looks so good, I'm going to translate this recipe for ma niece and ask her to make it for us when I'm visiting with my brother in two weeks' time. I'm already drooling!

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  2. We are up to over two dozen eggs at the moment...
    Six will be pickled, six will become this....that will use ten up!!
    Chard is not quite ready for picking...but the courgettes are go...
    I'll just go and get some lardons out't'freezer!!

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    1. Don't let the chard leaves grow big and tough! Take your own advice...

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    2. We don't...they only went in three weeks ago!! We are that far behind this year...
      Pauline's planting the Red Russians and Collards tomorrow...the Tender-stem Broccoli went in today...and I'll be making this tomorrow now....too hot and bothered, so it's cold sossij and salad sarnie for supper, with cold rat on the side...seasoned with Créme Fraiche, S&P and tomato ketchup or Pumpup...not decided on that yet!

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    3. By way of explanation, Ken....we leave the first nine leaves of the chard to feed the plant...the Rainbow Chard now have four...the Fordhook Giant only have the first pair of tidlers...they don't count in the nine!
      And Pumpup is a spicy mustard and pumpkin ketchup!

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    4. I finally figured out what "cold rat" means — what a good way to make something as delicious as ratatouille sound disgusting — and I think I remember that you write "sarnie" for sandwich — but I don't know why. At least "sossij" is fairly phonetic. Crème fraîche in ratatouille? What's wrong with olive oil? Your food and your language leave me perplexed. Hope you enjoyed it. Oh, and it must be nice to have time to count the leaves on your chard and cabbage plants. LOL.

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    5. The ratatouille was cooked in the traditional way...with the oil of olives!
      When served as cold rat in a dish, the crème fraîche and Pumpup mix was as a dollop on the top with a sprinkle of homegrown paprika as garnish.... and it was delish!!
      I don't have time to count the leaves... I make time for that one... a plant needs to feed before I can start harvesting!

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    6. I had cold rat today, sitting on the beach in L.A. 😜

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    7. LOL, Chris. Hope it wasn't a wharf rat. Do you prefer the dark meat or the white?

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  3. I've been using Pepin's souffle recipe ever since I read The Apprentice over a decade ago. Before that, I rarely made a souffle because it was such a mess separating the eggs and beating and folding in the whites. It works great. Also, thanks for the advice about the chard. There's a bunch of chard in a common plot in my community garden that's starting to get a little long in the tooth. I'll have to go harvest some of it.

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    1. The chard is good. Today I harvested and cooked more kale. Kale might be good in a soufflé too, with a good flavorful cheese.

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    2. The chard is good. Today I harvested and cooked more kale. Kale might be good in a soufflé too, with a good flavorful cheese.

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  4. Good job, Ken. Jacques Pépin is a treasure. I have made many of his recipes and all have been delicious. I love how fondly he speaks of his mother and Julia Child. I also love that he embraces easy.

    Also, I can't wait to see your greenhouse. So exciting.

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    1. I think easy recipes are great, as long as the result is good.

      The greenhouse has been ordered and is supposed to be delivered around August 10. It will be set up in September, they say.

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  5. You know, I've never had soufflé! I don't know how that has happened, but I just never have. I really should try this. Looks great, and, of course, who doesn't love Jacques Pépin!

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    1. Do try it, Judy. Start simple. Béchamel, cheese, eggs, salt and pepper. You'll love it. There was a restaurant in San Francisco back when called Chez Jacqueline that served only soufflés, and was it good!

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