Margie’s Kitchen in Boston: Soufflé – Goat Cheese and Walnut

Photos by Lena

You probably can find different variations of this recipe on the internet. I prefer as a base recipe the one from Joy of Cooking (1997 edition, page 138), with some modifications. The recipe calls for eight 6 ounce buttered ramekins. Coat each with a mixture of ¼ cup coarse corn meal (Goya) and ¾ cup toasted and finely chopped walnuts. This amount of coating seems to be more than required. I end up evenly distributing the excess across the cups. Make the roux, 3 tablespoons butter melted and ¼ cup flour cooked over low heat for 1 minute. To the roux add ⅔ cup milk, stirring constantly until thickened. Scrape into mixing bowl along with 10 ounces (10.5 is a common size) goat cheese. Smash with spatula.

Have ready 6 egg whites whipped with ¼ teaspoon of cream of tartar. Add five of the yolks to the goat cheese. The Joy of Cooking uses a 5 to 4 white/egg yolk combination. Add 1-2 cloves of smashed garlic. Normally I would add the ¼ teaspoon of thyme, eliminate salt, and add some pepper. For this version I also eliminate the thyme because I will be serving the soufflé with a dill sauce from a cookbook I highlighted in a older blog- The Vegetarian Epicure, Book II (page 104): To Roux (2 tablespoons butter, 2 tablespoons flour, 2 teaspoons dry dill or 2 tablespoons fresh minced), add 1 cup milk, ¾ cup sour cream and whisk until thick. Add ¼ cup white wine, 2 tablespoons lemon juice and ½ teaspoon sugar. To this mixture add, depending on your preferences, a pinch of cayenne and nutmeg, salt and pepper, then simmer for 10 minutes.

As for preparing the soufflé, just do the basics. Stir egg and cheese mixture with spatula until smooth. Fold in egg whites gently with spatula, gently zig and zagging spatula to get an even consistency. Don’t stir the mixture.

Distribute batter across 8 ramekins, put in water bath in a preheated 360° oven, and cook in lower middle oven for 30 minutes. Let sit in bath for 15 minutes.

The great thing about this dish is you can serve it immediately, or refrigerate for three days and microwave for about a minute.

I serve the soufflés with broiled asparagus and toasted French bread rounds.

Click here for some other souffles:  Sasha's raspberry souffle, dark chocolate souffle and PB&J souffle