French dinner

One night this week, I made an all French dinner. For the appetizers and dessert, I used choux paste (you may remember this from the cream puffs, before)

For appetizers, I made a savory dough and added gruyere and parmesan cheese, and created gougeres. The savory choux paste has no sugar and more salt and some pepper, and then you fold in the cheeses.

For dessert, I crafted profiteroles, which are sweet choux paste dough split open, with a scoop of ice cream inside and chocolate sauce on top. Yum!



For the main course, we had blue cheese souffle, with a side of baby greens with vinaigrette.



The vinaigrette was awesome! The souffle - meh. I thought it tasted kinda like scrambled eggs. Hubby thought it was tastearrific.

Blue Cheese Souffle

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing the dish
1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan, plus extra for sprinkling
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup scalded milk
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Pinch cayenne pepper
Pinch nutmeg
4 extra-large egg yolks, at room temperature
3 ounces good Roquefort cheese, chopped (or other blue cheese)
5 extra-large egg whites, at room temperature
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Butter the inside of an 8-cup souffle dish (7 1/2 inches in diameter and 3 1/4 inches deep) and sprinkle evenly with Parmesan.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat. With a wooden spoon, stir in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Off the heat, whisk in the hot milk, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, the cayenne, and nutmeg. Cook over low heat, whisking constantly, for 1 minute, until smooth and thick.

Off the heat, while still hot, whisk in the egg yolks, one at a time. Stir in the Roquefort and the 1/4 cup of Parmesan and transfer to a large mixing bowl.

Put the egg whites, cream of tartar, and a pinch of salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on low speed for 1 minute, on medium speed for 1 minute, then finally on high speed until they form firm, glossy peaks.

Whisk 1/4 of the egg whites into the cheese sauce to lighten and then fold in the rest. Pour into the souffle dish, then smooth the top. Draw a large circle on top with the spatula to help the souffle rise evenly, and place in the middle of the oven. Turn the temperature down to 375 degrees F. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes (don't peek!) until puffed and brown. Serve immediately.

Green Salad Vinaigrette

3 tablespoons Champagne or white wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon minced fresh garlic
1 extra-large egg yolk, at room temperature
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup good olive oil

In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, mustard, garlic, egg yolk, salt and pepper. While whisking, slowly add the olive oil until the vinaigrette is emulsified. Toss the greens with enough dressing to moisten and serve immediately.

The recipes above call for room temperature eggs, which beat easier with more air, and emulsify easier. To bring eggs to room temperature fast, cover them in a cup or bowl with warm water and let sit for about 10-15 minutes.

You can find the profiterole and gougere recipes here and here.