I'm not sure if I've ever come across a dish that can be served as a dessert, appetizer, side, and main course. But that's exactly how Matt and Renato describe this week's Baked Sunday Mornings recipe, the Cheddar Corn Soufflé. I decided to offer it as a dinner side; I thought it would be a nice accompaniment to to Nueske's ham that Tom was serving as the main course.
This recipe is not difficult, but it does require dirtying quite a few pans and bowls. To make the soufflé base, you make a roux of butter and flour, whisk in warm milk and cook until thickened, add in spices (salt, pepper, nutmeg, cayenne), and incorporate egg yolks. Then you fold in egg whites that have been beaten with cream of tartar to stiff peaks, shredded cheddar cheese, and corn. You pour the batter into a 1.5-quart soufflé dish that has been buttered and coated with shredded Parmesan cheese (we didn't have any, so I used Pecorino Romano).
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The recipe says that you should preheat the oven to 400 degrees and turn it down to 375 degrees before baking the soufflé for 30-35 minutes. I preheated the oven to 400 degrees, but I got a little distracted when all of our dinner guests arrived as I was finishing up the batter. I forgot to turn the oven down to 375 and I baked the soufflé at 400 by mistake. As a result, when I checked the soufflé at 30 minutes, the top was very dark brown.
The soufflé rose quite a bit above the rim of the dish; before baking the batter was right beneath the wide band at the rim. I had to quickly snap the photo above after I took the soufflé out of the oven because within a few minutes, it had deflated significantly (although it remained above the rim of the dish).
I have made a lot of sweet soufflés, but this was my first savory version. I was surprised at how light and airy it was, while still being very flavorful from the cheese (I used our favorite cheddar, English Seaside) and corn. My only complaint is that the soufflé was a touch salty, although that often happens when you make a dish containing a lot of cheese. The sides and bottom of the soufflé had a very dark and firm crust that came out cleanly from the dish and reminded me of the outside of a popover; I'm not sure if this prominent crust was the result of baking the soufflé at the wrong temperature, but I thought it was tasty and it made the soufflé easy to scoop and serve.
I would definitely make this dish again, although the à la minute aspect of it makes the timing a bit tricky (as opposed to a sweet soufflé, because I usually have a bit more leeway to decide when I want to serve dessert, and am unlikely to have anything else competing for oven space after dinner is served). I didn't calculate the timing correctly and the soufflé finished baking just a few minutes after I had served the first course, so it had to sit around for a while. Nonetheless, it was very good even by the time we got around to eating it. That said, I think it's odd that Matt and Renato suggested serving this as a dessert; even though I love having a cheese course after dinner, there is nothing about this very savory dish that reads like dessert to me.
Recipe: "Cheddar Corn Soufflé" from Baked Elements: Our 10 Favorite Ingredients, by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito, recipe available here at Baked Sunday Mornings.
This recipe is not difficult, but it does require dirtying quite a few pans and bowls. To make the soufflé base, you make a roux of butter and flour, whisk in warm milk and cook until thickened, add in spices (salt, pepper, nutmeg, cayenne), and incorporate egg yolks. Then you fold in egg whites that have been beaten with cream of tartar to stiff peaks, shredded cheddar cheese, and corn. You pour the batter into a 1.5-quart soufflé dish that has been buttered and coated with shredded Parmesan cheese (we didn't have any, so I used Pecorino Romano).
.JPG)
The soufflé rose quite a bit above the rim of the dish; before baking the batter was right beneath the wide band at the rim. I had to quickly snap the photo above after I took the soufflé out of the oven because within a few minutes, it had deflated significantly (although it remained above the rim of the dish).
I have made a lot of sweet soufflés, but this was my first savory version. I was surprised at how light and airy it was, while still being very flavorful from the cheese (I used our favorite cheddar, English Seaside) and corn. My only complaint is that the soufflé was a touch salty, although that often happens when you make a dish containing a lot of cheese. The sides and bottom of the soufflé had a very dark and firm crust that came out cleanly from the dish and reminded me of the outside of a popover; I'm not sure if this prominent crust was the result of baking the soufflé at the wrong temperature, but I thought it was tasty and it made the soufflé easy to scoop and serve.
I would definitely make this dish again, although the à la minute aspect of it makes the timing a bit tricky (as opposed to a sweet soufflé, because I usually have a bit more leeway to decide when I want to serve dessert, and am unlikely to have anything else competing for oven space after dinner is served). I didn't calculate the timing correctly and the soufflé finished baking just a few minutes after I had served the first course, so it had to sit around for a while. Nonetheless, it was very good even by the time we got around to eating it. That said, I think it's odd that Matt and Renato suggested serving this as a dessert; even though I love having a cheese course after dinner, there is nothing about this very savory dish that reads like dessert to me.
Recipe: "Cheddar Corn Soufflé" from Baked Elements: Our 10 Favorite Ingredients, by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito, recipe available here at Baked Sunday Mornings.
Comments
The recipe doesn't say - but you can assemble these ahead of time and pop them in the fridge (covered) and then just bake them off when they're ready.
Happy Easter!