On Dec 2, 4:18 pm, sf > wrote:
> 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...eens-100000002...
>
> > 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.
>

Yeah, the water bath thing didn't even register with me. Duh.

> HTH

Thanks. I'm sure it will. "Real" souffles are things I can see
myself playing around with. And oh yeah, cheese rules :-).

--
Silvar Beitel