Recipes « (y)our food choices™

Our Stout and Cheddar "UK Soufflé"

When going on a vacation there are certain things you must do to prepare. Of course, there is the obvious packing, getting a cat sitter, and stopping the mail, but there’s are the little things like eating what ever is left in your fridge to avoid having to toss it out. You become a little creative in the dishes you prepare and sometimes, if you’re really lucky, the dish comes out tasting very good.

Rosemary Scented Pan Roasted Veggies

The night before we traveled to London we had very little left in our fridge – some vegetables that we pan roasted with rosemary and some fixings for a souffle, or so we thought. We were short on milk and didn’t think it would be wise to go purchase more since whatever we bought would be past its prime when we returned, but we did have some flat stout beer in the fridge from a leftover Beach Chalet growler. So, after doing a little research and thinking, hell, why not, we created a souffle using a mix of the last of our milk, stout beer and Irish Cheddar. The result was a UK, French mash-up that was one of the best souffles we’ve ever whipped up. The coloring was a nice tan though not as pristine as a typical souffle, but the taste was uniquely delicious, and the souffle rose higher than any we’ve tried before. The resulting souffle is a sort of fluffy ‘rarebit’ that pairs perfectly with toasted crusty bread and a nice salad. Give this one a try and tell us what you think!
Cheers,
Jason & Steve

Recipe: UK Soufflé

Soufflé Prep

4 Tbsp butter, plus 1 tsp

¼ cup flour

¾ cup whole milk

¾ cup stout beer

6 eggs, separated

¼ tsp dry mustard

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Dash of Cayenne

½ cup grated English or Irish cheddar

½ cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for dusting soufflé dish

Pinch of cream of tartar

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Butter a 2-quart soufflé dish well (or several small ramekins of your choosing) then lightly dust the interior with grated Parmesan cheese, set aside.

Place a medium saucepan over medium heat and melt the 4 tbsp butter. When it begins to foam, add flour and whisk constantly until mixture begins to darken slightly. Add milk and stout while whisking to avoid creating lumps. Continue to whisk for a couple of minutes until mixture begins to thicken. Remove pan from heat and stir in salt, pepper, cayenne, mustard and cheeses. Next, whisk in egg yolks one at a time, again being careful to incorporate them quickly to avoid scrambling them.

Beat egg whites and pinch of cream of tartar in a spotlessly clean bowl until soft peaks form. You can do this by hand or with an electric hand or stand mixer. Once whipped, stir a few tablespoons of egg white into the cheese mixture until completely incorporated. Add remaining egg whites and fold them in gently with a rubber spatula to avoid breaking their volume (Bittman uses his hands).

Pour the batter into your prepared soufflé dish and bake in the center of your oven for 30 – 40 minutes (less if you’re baking small soufflés). Bake until a rich golden brown. To test, insert a wooden skewer into the center. The skewer should be just lightly moist. Remove from the oven and serve immediately.

Remember, a soufflé waits for nobody. Everything you plan to eat with it should be ready and on the table before you take the soufflé out of the oven. It will lose volume almost immediately after leaving the heat of the oven so time is of the essence. Use a couple of large spoons to scoop it from its dish and plate it while steaming hot!

Bon Appetit!

Albeit small but delicious scoops; Orange-Tangerine Gelato and Cardamom Ice Cream, with chopped pistachios and blackberry honey.

With our upcoming trip to Paris, and summer right around the corner, thoughts of ice cream have been popping up for us. Since there was a ½ pint of heavy cream left over from Steve’s ice cream creation and only a few days left until it expired, I needed to come up with another flavor to compliment the delicious cardamom ice cream he made a few days earlier. Scouring our cookbooks and seeing what fresh fruit we had in abundance, I found a delicious gelato recipe from Martha’s Classic cookbook. Although she calls for blood oranges I made ours with a combination of naval and tangerine oranges. The result is reminiscent of eating the Creamsicles of our childhood. The orange goes perfectly with the cardamom. With a few chopped pistachios and a little drizzle of honey, the double scoop makes a simple childhood favorite into a sophisticated palate pleaser.

Orange-Tangerine Gelato

Adapted from The Martha Stewart Living Cookbook; The Original Classics

2 cups milk

zest of 1 orange (use a vegetable peeler and remove only the orange zest, no pith)

1 cup fresh orange/tangerine juice

5 large egg yolks

¾ cup sugar

1 cup heavy cream

In a medium sauce pan, heat milk and orange zest over a gentle simmer. Remove from heat and let the milk seep for 30 minutes. In a small sauce pan gently heat the orange juice and reduce until only about ¼ cup remains, about 30-40 minutes. Allow the orange juice to cool completely.

Prepare an ice bath. Reheat the milk and orange zest. Whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until thick and pale yellow. Slowly add the milk to the egg yolks while whisking, then return the egg and milk mixture to the sauce pan. Continue to heat and stir with a wooden spoon until slightly thick. The custard should coat the back of the spoon.

Remove from heat and stir in the heavy cream. Pass the mixture through a fine sieve and place the custard on the ice bath. Stir in the orange syrup and allow to completely cool before pouring the custard into an ice cream maker. Process the gelato according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Freeze in a container.