On Sun, 2 Dec 2012 12:58:46 -0800 (PST), Silvar Beitel
> wrote:

> For dinner last night, I decided to make a start on the giant
> butternut squash my neighbor gave me a month or so ago. Didn't want
> soup, or chunky casserole. I wanted a souffle and I wanted a savory,
> not sweet one.
>
> I settled on this:
>
> http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/wint...0000000226098/
>
> but I should have looked at the reviews. 5 of 6 people got no rise
> out of the thing and neither did I. I mean, it was tasty and all, but
> more like a pudding or mousse than (what I think of as) a souffle.
> Looking the ingredients and instructions I can see the error: Not
> enough egg (white) and all the ingredients simply whizzed in the food
> processor rather than folding the batter into properly beaten egg
> whites. Why'd they call it a souffle at all? (And why didn't I look
> at it more closely sooner? :-) )

No idea, but that water bath is a dead give away about the end result.
You know it's not going to be what we think of as souffle because the
whites weren't folded in by hand... something you could change if you
otherwise liked the recipe.
>
> Back on the hunt, I see lots of *sweet* butternut squash puffy souffle
> recipes, but the savory ones all seem to be the pudding/mousse kind,
> at least within 10 minutes of searching.
>
> Seems to me, souffles are one of those foods that could have a
> standard formula, something along the lines of 1) so much puree of 2)
> a certain level of wetness/consistency, 3) ratio of egg yolks to
> puree, 4) ratio of well-beaten egg whites to puree, and 5) cook it at
> X degrees for Y minutes (or until puffy).
>
> Anyone want to take a shot at it? Or just post your favorite (and
> hopefully tried and true) savory souffle recipe?

I used to make souffles all the time as an everyday side dish and I'd
be happy to give you a recipe, but I never wrote it down. I use an
egg per person, but you could use more if you have big eaters or
adjust it down for people who eat less. Make a white sauce, mix the
squash in, then add the yolks, stir some more. I usually add a
handful of cheese too (because I like it)... parmesan, jarlsberg or
whatever is on hand. Whip up the whites (I don't bother using more
white than yolk) using a little cream of tartar, fold it into the
white sauce/yolk/squash mixture. I just eyeball the amount of
vegetable... which is leftover from a previous meal (like squash,
broccoli or asparagus), so the amount varies. My intent is to make an
amount that will result in no leftover souffle, and that only comes
with experience.

A souffle benefits from a blast of heat from the bottom, which means
your oven rack is at it's lowest position in the oven. I keep my
pizza tiles in the oven permanently, so I place my souffle dish on
them... if I didn't have them, I'd heat my cast iron skillet in the
oven and place my souffle dish in that to bake.

HTH

--
Food is an important part of a balanced diet.