{"id":151533,"date":"2012-04-17T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-04-17T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gracious-khorana.45-76-20-142.plesk.page\/localmex12012x104x1julia-childs-souffle-au-fromage-local-dairy-spring-asparagus-salad-htmlx1\/"},"modified":"2023-06-26T17:14:02","modified_gmt":"2023-06-26T17:14:02","slug":"julia-childs-souffle-au-fromage-local-dairy-spring-asparagus-salad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/localmilkblog.com\/2012\/04\/julia-childs-souffle-au-fromage-local-dairy-spring-asparagus-salad.html","title":{"rendered":"Julia Child\u2019s Souffl\u00e9 Au Fromage: Local Dairy & Spring Asparagus Salad"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"masteringtheart\"<\/a><\/div>\n
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As I see it, fresh eggs deserve a light touch so that they can shine, thus I turned to my copy of Julia Child\u2019s \u201cMastering the Art of French Cooking Volume I\u201d, bequeathed to me along with Volume II by my mother, for her souffl\u00e9 au fromage<\/i> recipe. People are frightened of souffl\u00e9s, it seems. I must admit, I\u2019ve a touch of the fear myself, despite having made my fair share. I reason that they are quite prosaic & provincial, something French mother\u2019s whip up for dinner, and therefore I needn\u2019t fear them. But, like the much maligned macaronage<\/i>, it is the step of folding in the whipped egg whites that causes people the most trouble and consternation. The key is just that: folding<\/b> not stirring. Child says that the entire folding process should take no longer than a minute.<\/div>\n
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While I read cookbooks voraciously, it\u2019s actually rare that I open a cookbook to actually cook out of these days. I, more often than not, do not use recipes (or use my own), and when I do consult recipes it\u2019s often a dizzying array of recipes collected from the vast archives of the internet. Opening the book was comforting, as is opening most old books. It\u2019s the same visceral experience of listening to an album on vinyl: sensual, tactile, grounding\u2026 humanizing, even. The yellowing pages, like the perfect imperfections of a record\u2019s crackles and pops, and Child\u2019s clear, orderly instructions were just what I needed to calm any lingering nerves I may have had surrounding my ability to not deflate my egg whites, stomp around the kitchen whilst the souffl\u00e9 baked (which I hear is dangerous for the very life of a souffl\u00e9\u2026and I\u2019m a girl who stomps), or my doubts about my non-convection oven\u2019s ability to cook a \u201cproper\u201d souffl\u00e9.<\/div>\n
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With Child\u2019s guidance I assembled the minimalist mise en scene, prepared my b\u00e9chamel as per her instructions, and calmly folded in my egg whites, though I think I may have under folded, which she notes is preferable to over folding. My souffl\u00e9 rose to about two inches higher than pictured. Anyone who has attempted to photograph a souffl\u00e9 can empathize, I\u2019m sure, with the difficulty of capturing it before it deflates. That said, I do not think I\u2019ve achieved perfection, but it was a delicious, airy dinner alongside a bright spring asparagus salad. I am a bit of a perfectionist, as it were, and I foresee many more souffl\u00e9s in my future, as I continue to attempt to master them. Next time I\u2019d like to use a local Sequatchie Cove<\/a> cheese and some of my raw milk to really bring it home. Also, next time I will add a pinch of cream of tartar to my egg whites for more stability.<\/div>\n
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\"julia<\/a><\/div>\n
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\"asparagus<\/a><\/div>\n
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This was along the lines of my platonic ideal of a dinner, as I like to think of my personal home-cooking style as existing in a modern place between grandma and grand-m\u00e8re<\/i>, equal parts southern soul food and Proven\u00e7al<\/i>. I served the simple parmesan souffl\u00e9 with a salad of local greens, Alexzanna Farms asparagus lightly steamed, local radishes & spring onions shaved on a mandoline, and a simple creamy goat cheese dressing. It\u2019s great cooking for a man that acknowledges this as \u201creal food\u201d, and doesn\u2019t look sullenly about for a slab of meat. I\u2019ve dated my fair share of southern men and can say with confidence that he\u2019s a rare breed. Don\u2019t get me wrong, I like to work with meat, slabs of it even, but we don\u2019t generally eat a lot of it at home. He prefers souffl\u00e9 & quiche to bacon, won\u2019t eat bacon, as a matter of fact. I think it bespeaks of some darkness inside of him, but I love him regardless of his soulless aversion to bacon. I digress.<\/div>\n
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Incredibly quick and easy and luscious enough to please just about anyone, this souffl\u00e9 is an affordable dish that uses some of the most basic pantry ingredients yet yields a very refined result. Also, it is infinitely adaptable and quite quick to literally whip up. So. I exhort you, buy some fresh, local eggs, local milk, & good cheese (local too if you can! With the Sunday Market starting back up, there will be ample opportunity) and go forth and bake souffl\u00e9. It\u2019s things like souffl\u00e9 that make life feel special. You\u2019ll feel super extra fancy, I promise. And you can still pretend<\/i> it was crazy hard, you know, for the laurels.<\/div>\n
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Due to copyright, I will not post the recipe verbatim as it appears in the book, which I strongly urge anyone with even a passing affinity for cooking to buy (look for a vintage copy online!). It is canonical, something to pass down to your children like a dog eared Bible. But here is a link to the recipe as it appears on Epicurious as \u201cClassic Cheese Souffl\u00e9\u201d<\/a> adapted by Molly Wizenberg of Orangette<\/a> fame.<\/div>\n
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The simple recipe for the salad follows. I encourage you to adapt it to use what you have on hand, what is fresh. The dressing sounds simple but has recently become my absolute favorite. It\u2019s almost like a faux hollandaise but lighter and far easier (though hollandaise is quite easy too!). Excellent for dressing spring asparagus without over-powering them.<\/div>\n
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