Puffed up with pride

A bad pun, I know! But that’s exactly how I felt when I pulled my first ever soufflé out of the oven, all golden, puffy and altogether irresistible.

Let me explain. I have long wanted to try my hand at soufflés, but have always been daunted by their notoriously difficult reputation. I mean, what if it sank to the bottom of the dish? Surely my heart would sink with it too. And what if it were totally inedible to boot? That would be a colossal waste of good ingredients. No cookbook I have seen to date has a recipe for a single serving of soufflé, which is a shame, because a) that would be the perfect size for a culinary experiment, since the quantities involved are small and b) if it’s just you, you don’t have to worry about having people ready and waiting at the table, holding their breath for the soufflé to come out of the oven, only to have it fall flat! And what’s more, none of the recipes I’ve seen so far have been amenable to scaling down either, since wrestling with fractions of eggs is not my forte.

I picked up Alice Waters’ The Art of Simple Food at the library the other day. This is a wonderful book for cooks of all skill levels, whether you are a beginner learning the basics or a more seasoned cook looking to expand your repertoire. The first part of the book has “lessons” covering everything from shopping and preparation to techniques and concepts. The second part is a selection of additional recipes for everything from salads and vegetables to desserts. The recipes are written in an organic narrative style instead of the usual format of ingredients followed by method. The ingredients are highlighted in bold, so you don’t miss anything important, and the step-by-step instructions ensure you’re doing things in the most sensible order. Overall, there’s a ton of stuff in there, simple recipes written simply, with enough variations to keep you busy for a long time. But I digress. While leafing through it, I came across a recipe for a Goat Cheese Soufflé, and surprisingly enough this one called for 4 eggs for 4 servings. Immediately, I knew I had to try it, scaled down to a single serving. As luck would have it, I even had a bit of goat cheese the exact size, so I took that as a sign and set to work.

The actual steps involved in making a soufflé are not too complicated. Making a béchamel is pretty basic, and whipping the egg whites is a snap when you have an electric whisk (otherwise it’s a lot of elbow grease!) The tricky part is whipping them to the correct stage, and then folding them in without deflating all that precious air that’s trapped inside. The air bubbles will begin to expand in the heat of the oven, lifting the soufflé to lofty heights. At the same time, the heat also coagulates the protein of the egg white, so that the soufflé has a structure to hold the air in. Even though I have a decent idea of the chemistry of the process, I don’t have a lot of experience working with egg whites, so I said a silent prayer before the final step of folding the egg whites into the cheese sauce. I vaguely remembered having seen a chef on TV use a paper collar around his ramekin to support the delicate mixture as it rises, so I tied a piece of parchment around mine for good measure and watched as the oven did its bit.

The soufflé began rising almost as soon as I put it into the oven. 15 minutes later, it was still proudly puffed up and beginning to develop a golden top, so I ventured to remove the paper collar to let the sides brown a little. In true fashion, its top deflated ever so slightly when I took it out of the oven, but it stayed mostly intact. I dipped a spoon in and took a taste. Success tastes like...a savory, cheesy cloud!

Recipe:
Goat cheese soufflé (Serves 1)
Adapted from Alice Waters’ The Art of Simple Food

1 tbsp olive oil (Butter is the traditional fat of choice)

¾ tbsp white whole wheat flour
¼ cup milk (I used 2%)

1 egg, separated

1 oz soft goat cheese (a quarter of the small log usually seen in stores)

Salt, pepper and other seasonings to taste (such as herbs and spices of choice)

A drizzle of truffle oil (optional)

Preheat the oven to 375F (190C). Oil the inside of a 1-cup ramekin. You can also sprinkle the insides with grated parmesan or breadcrumbs. Place the ramekin on a baking sheet.

Heat the olive oil in a saucepan and whisk in the flour. Cook for a minute and then pour in the milk, whisking continuously. Cook till the sauce has thickened enough to coat the back of the spoon. Season with salt generously as the egg whites will have none, then add other seasonings to taste. I used freshly cracked black pepper and some red pepper flakes. Stir in the cheese and the egg yolk.
In a clean bowl, whip the egg white to moist firm peaks. Fold in a third of the whites into the cheese sauce, and then gently fold in the rest of the egg white, taking care not to deflate the batter. Pour into the prepared ramekin. Run a thumb around the inside edge of the ramekin, and then tie a paper collar around it to help the soufflé rise.

Bake in the oven until puffed and golden-brown, about 20 minutes. Towards the end of the cooking time, remove the paper collar to let the sides brown a bit. Eat immediately, with some truffle oil drizzled over the top if you like. A salad of mixed greens with a lemony vinaigrette is wonderful on the side.

An Indian-themed cheesecake for Diwali

Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, has always been my favorite of them all. Even as a young child, I loved to hang out in the kitchen, watching my mother as she skilfully kneaded dough, ground nuts and spices, and stirred the boiling vats of syrup that would eventually become mountains of delicious sweets and savories to eat and share. My sister and I would be up at the crack of dawn to have the ritual oil bath and don our new clothes. Then, our guests would arrive to enjoy a huge, traditional South Indian spread for breakfast; and before we fell into a food-induced coma, we'd head out to visit friends and family with trays of goodies for them. In the evenings the neighborhood would come alive with the glow of the rows and rows of oil lamps that we'd set out; and the sky would light up with dazzling fireworks.

Here in the US, Diwali is a far more tame affair, since it is celebrated only by a small minority. Since this year's festival occurred over a weekend, I was keen to continue the festival tradition by inviting some friends over for a vegetarian Indian meal. Since Indian sweets can be a bit too sweet for most non-Indian palates, I knew I'd have to pick a dessert from another part of the globe. I finally settled on cheesecake, whose rich creaminess provides a good foil for spicy food. A good basic cheesecake recipe is very useful to have in your recipe file - you can mix in any number of added flavorings to suit your need! And the good part is that it needs to chill overnight before serving, so you have to make it ahead of time and thereby avoid any last-minute rush. In honor of Diwali I decided to flavor it with some of our favorite ingredients for festive sweets: saffron, cardamom and pistachio.

I mixed in some pistachio paste into one half of the cheesecake batter, poured it over the crust and let it bake until just set. The other half of the batter had saffron and cardamom and went over the first layer. The layers ended up mixing in the center, where it was probably not as fully set as the periphery when I poured the second batter on top; still, the bi-color effect came through and I was quite pleased with the results!

Recipe:
Saffron-pistachio (Kesar-pista) cheesecake (Makes 8-10 servings)
Crust:
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/3 cup skin-on almonds, ground
3/4 stick (6 tbsp) butter, melted
2 tbsp sugar
Pinch salt
Filling:
3 8-oz packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup sour cream
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
Grated zest of 1 lemon
Optional flavorings (use different ones if you wish):
1/4 cup pistachio paste
Generous pinch saffron threads, dissolved in 1 tbsp warm milk
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
Preheat the oven to 350F(180C). Wrap an 8" springform pan in a double thickness of aluminium foil. Have a large baking dish ready that is big enough to hold the springform pan with room all around to pour hot water - this will be the bain-marie or water bath to bake the cheesecake in.
Mix the ingredients of the crust in a food processor. Press the mixture firmly into the base of the prepared pan. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes, until browned. Remove to cool and turn the oven temperature down to 300F(150C).
Mix the filling ingredients in a stand mixer, food processor, or by hand with an electric mixer. Scrape down the sides from time to time to ensure everything is well mixed. Divide the mixture into two equal parts. Mix the pistachio paste into one half, pour into the pan, and place the pan into the water bath with enough hot water to come halfway up the sides. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until just set.
Meanwhile, mix the saffron liquid and cardamom into the other portion of the filling. Spoon the second batter gently (gently, unlike what I did!) over the part-baked cheesecake, return the pan to the water bath in the oven, and bake for another 45-50 minutes. The cake should still be jiggly in the center.
Turn off the oven and let the cake stand in the cooling oven for an hour. Remove the cheesecake from the water bath after an hour has passed, and let cool completely. Refrigerate overnight before serving. Cut into portions with a knife that has been dipped in hot water, and rinse the knife in hot water in between cuts.