Cheese Souffle Recipe

Soufflé, soufflé, soufflé. I LOVE soufflé. In my opinion, it is the egg at its finest hour. When Julie and Julia was all the rage, I went and purchased myself a copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking. The recipe I refer to the most is her cheese soufflé. Here is how I humbly attempt to recreate her masterpiece. I use a stand mixer for the egg whites. If you don't have one, a hand blender works. A stainless steel bowl is best for the egg whites. If you don't have one, just make sure your bowl is really clean. It's a chemistry thing.

5 eggs
1 cup cheese, grated, almost any cheese will work. I use up leftovers in fridge.
1 c. Milk
2 Tbl butter
2 Tbl flour
Breadcrumbs, I keep them in in freezer, they last forever.
Nonstick spray
Pinch of nutmeg
1/2 tsp mustard
Pinch of cayenne

Preheat oven to 375. Spray your soufflé dish with nonstick spray. A round casserole dish works well. I have a french Charlotte mold, which is designed for souffles, but am also a crazy soufflé freak. Sprinkle breadcrumbs into your dish. Evenly tap the crumbs all around your dish. This will prevent sticking issues.

Melt butter in a small saucepan. Add in flour, cook for a couple of minutes to get the raw taste out of the flour. Heat the milk. I heat it in the microwave for one minute in a Pyrex measuring cup while the flour is cooking. Whisk in hot milk. The sauce will thicken quickly. Whisk until smooth. Add cayenne, nutmeg, mustard and salt and pepper to sauce. Remove sauce from heat. Whisk in cheese. Cheese will get melty and gooey. Sample your concoction and adjust seasonings. Separate 4 eggs. I separate in a small bowl in case I goof. If you get any yolk in your whites, they won't whip right. Losing one egg is far more bearable than 4. Add the yolk into the sauce and the whites into the clean stainless bowl. After you add each yolk, give the sauce a whisk to incorporate each yolk. For the fifth egg, just add the white and toss the yolk. I don't know why, but Julia Childs said so. Whisk the whites to stiff peaks. Carefully fold sauce into whites. If it isn't 100% incorporated don't worry, it will work. Put into prepared dish. Put into oven and reduce heat to 350. Bake for 30 - 35 minutes. Check souffle by carefully giving it a little jiggle. If it jiggles just a bit, then it is ready. If it is on the loose side, bake for 5 - 10 more minutes.  Serve immediately.