At the end of the day ... Cheese Souffle!

Today was the first day of the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival here in Hampton, Virginia, and I was there with friends as the doors opened this morning. Nothing gets the creative juices flowing than aisles and aisles of fabulous vendors and row after row of beautiful quilts!! And when my little feet just couldn't take another step -- after more than five hours -- I came home and fixed this light and lovely cheese souffle. And there's no better way to get my kitchen creativity going than to have my souffle actually puff the way it should!!

I haven't made a cheese souffle in probably 20 years. They first came into my recipe repertoire back in the early 1970s when I fell in love with Julia Child, but they haven't been "in fashion" for many years. Maybe I'll just start my own souffle trend again!

Here's a recipe that's not difficult and is really awesome!

Begin by making a thick white sauce: Melt 3 Tablespoons butter in a heavy bottomed saucepan. Stir in 4 Tablespoons flour until smooth. Slowly pour in 1 cup of milk, stirring all the time. Add a bit of salt and pepper and continue stirring as sauce thickens.

To your white sauce, add about a 1/4 pound of grated cheddar cheese. I generally use a bit more than a 1/4 pound because I like it cheesy, and because I love Gruyere, I add that when I have it. Continue stirring as cheese melts.

Separate four large eggs. In one bowl with the yolks, beat them with a fork or whisk. Add a bit of the cheese/white sauce, whisking the whole time. Now pour the eggs into the sauce and keep stirring. The reason you do this is to give the egg yolks a "heads up" that something hot is coming .. it raises the temperature of the eggs so that they won't curdle when you put them into hot sauce.

Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold them into the cheese mixture. Pour into greased 2 qt souffle bowl (round casserole works fine). Bake at 300 degrees F for an hour and 15 minutes. Serve immediately to raves from your family and friends :)

Linda