Beyond

I hope I never lose my sense of wonder. If that makes me naive, then so be it.

Sunday 14 November 2010

daring cook, november

Soufflés! This month's challenge was once again something I'd never made before.
Dave and Linda from Monkeyshines in the Kitchen chose Soufflés as our November 2010 Daring Cooks’ Challenge! Dave and Linda provided two of their own delicious recipes plus a sinfully decadent chocolate soufflé recipe adapted from Gordon Ramsay’s recipe found at the BBC Good Food website.
I will admit that their reputation as cantankerous little tests of a cook's ability, not to mention expectations of tiptoeing around the house lest the souffle get annoyed with our heavy footfalls and collapse in a glorious flat mess of failed cookery, had me a little intimidated. However, the instructions and tips on the Daring Kitchen website made it much less daunting. It was good to be able to use up lots of eggs, too - our hens have been laying well.
We tried the chocolate one first; while it didn't rise as much as we'd hoped (need cleaner edges on the dish, I think), it tasted divine. My sous chefs (the 3 girls) enjoyed helping and all agreed it would be well worth trying again. The recipe from Gordon Ramsay referred to a soufflé as "a sexy pudding" - a good description. The flavor was amazing, the texture silky - delicious and smooth to eat.
We next did a savory one, using spinach and gruyere cheese, now feeling a little more confident in soufflé -land. The flavor was amazing, the sous chefs loved taking part in this one and all of the girls raved about the taste. We found it rich, but the lightness of the soufflé meant that it wasn't too much. Delicious and light but lots of taste. Definitely one we'll add to the favorites list.
Now that we feel more comfortable with this, we're thinking maybe crab and leek? Hmm...

4 comments:

stacy :) said...

Yum, your souffles look delicious - that chocolate souffle recipe is just fantastic, isn't it?? How wonderful to be able to use your own hens' eggs for the challenge! :)

Monkeyshines in the Kitchen said...

Bravo on your souffles! You've certainly mastered the technique! It's wonderful to be able to use fresh eggs from your own farm

David and Stacy said...

Well done! Our Chocolate one didn't rise much more than yours. Maybe it's that recipe and not the cooks?

Stay JOLLY!
D&S

sue said...

beautiful!