Picked up a nice cookbook a couple weeks ago - Gordon Ramsay's Healthy Appetite Last night, made his recipe for Spinach and Goat Cheese souffles. Here's the pix.
About 8 - 5 oz servings, or 6 - 6 oz servings. I did the latter.
Ingredients:
1 lb baby spinach
1 minced shallot (I was out, so I used minced onion)
1 clove garlic, pressed
Salt and pepper
4 large eggs, separated
7 oz goat cheese
1 cup lowfat milk
3 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 Tbsp finely grated parmesan cheese
Pinch (or to taste) Cayenne pepper (yeah, I use more than you would)
Bang up the oven to 400, and butter your 5 or 7 oz souffle dishes. Stick the souffle dishes in the fridge, pull them out when you have a moment later, and give the sides a second buttering. The souffles can't stick to the side, or they won't rise. Some of it seems like voodoo to me, but can't argue with a guy with more Michelin stars than Jay Leno has cars.
A moment for mise en place ('meez un plahss'): When making a recipe that's more complicated than putting milk on cereal, get your ducks in a row. Chop, peel, mince, dice, and measure everything out first. Then, you can follow the recipe without @#@&ing it up. Here's all my stuff ready to rock.Also: I'm not going to tell you when and how much seasoning (salt and pepper) to use. My method? Season (salt) every step along the way when something is cooking, enough so you think it'd taste right by itself.
Wilt the baby spinach leaves over medium high heat until cooked down, but still bright green. Drain it in a colander, then squeeze it out even more in a dish towel to get rid of as much moisture as possible. Then mince it up, and set it aside.
Olive oil into a medium saute/fry pan...nonstick if you got it, medium heat. Shallots and garlic into the pool, and sweat them out for a few minutes until translucent.Turn down the heat to LOW, add the flour and cayenne pepper and cook it for 3 - 4 minutes. If it's a pasty mess, add a wee bit more olive oil to loosen it up. Yeah, it's kinda like a blonde roux, only low heat.
Add the milk and whisk it up. No, those aren't lumps, they're shallot pieces. Bring up the heat, simmer it until it thickens, and tip it into a nice big bowl, spreading it up on the sides to cool.
Toss in the goat cheese, parmesan cheese, the spinach, egg yolks, and a bit of salt and stir it up.
Beat the egg whites into firm peaks. An electric mixer works best, although if you're a masochist, you can whip them with a whisk; a sadist, with a baseball bat.Fold the spinach mixture into the beaten egg whites, divide amongst the ramekins equally. Be careful not to leave air pockets. Slide a knife around the edge (more voodoo, I think, but I'm not gonna argue with GR). Time to go in the oven.
Here they are, about to get nice and warm and poofy and happy. 13-15 minutes, or until they look like the last picture below, golden brown on top.
Ready to come out of the oven.
Here they are. Serve right away.
While I was puttering around with the souffles, Flo was making the lamb marinade, grilling the corn and the rack of lamb, and making the salad. Jessi and Stephi helped a wee bit as well.The salad stuff is all from the garden, except for the tomatoes.
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