Twice Baked Goat Cheese Souffle

Goat - robust both by nature and aroma, but delicious just the same....

Being the sensitive petal I am, I am InTolerant to lactose. Luckily for me though, through some sneaky technicality, I can handle small amounts of goat and sheep milk products. I know there are all sorts of medical reasoning's behind this, something to do with protein strands etc, etc, All I need to know though, is that they are delicious, and they don't give me nasty, nasty side effects (as I love you, I will spare you graphic details)


As you can see, I have quite a little selection of yumminess at my command. I seem to have collected them over the holiday season and need to use them up before they turn nasty and I have wasted all that money.

Hmmm.... how to share the love? Not everyone confronted with a delicious array of goat and sheep products will be as thrilled as I am. Somehow a chunk of cheese can be intimidating. The answer, sneak it into a souffle! Once they have exclaimed over it's lip-smacking loveliness you can gently break it to them that it is all due to the ovine, not bovine, characteristics.

According to my mother, I was a culinary prodigy who made my first souffle at age 6. She cannot remember what flavour it was, but I'm sure it was wonderful! So is my mother, who always let me mess up her kitchen and play around with ingredients.

Today we'll do a great souffle for beginners, or those who are not child prodigies, a Double Baked Cheese Souffle. "Double baked?" I hear you cry! Yes, but think of other tasty treats like Twice cooked pork belly and Biscotti, and you will see it will be all O.K. By baking it twice you get to skip the nail-biting uncertainty of whether or not your souffle will rise to golden topped glory and whether or not you can get it to the table before it deflates defeatedly. Another bonus is that you can make the recipe through to the first baking, then stick them in the fridge or even freeze them until you're ready. Let's see you do that with a normal souffle!

Ingredients:

450ml/ about 2 cups lactose free milk or substitute
80g butter or substitute- Nuttlex is good
1/2 cup gluten free flour
100g soft goat/sheep cheese
100g grated hard goat/sheep cheese
6 eggs, separated
seasoning to taste- but be careful, most cheese is pretty salty anyway
1 cup or so of lactose free cream or substitute
Extra grated cheese for serving

Grease 6 medium size ramekins or souffle dishes-about 1cup or so capacity.

Pre heat the oven to 180*C

Melt the butter in a saucepan, then add in all the flour and stir until it goes slightly golden.

Now stir CONSTANTLY while adding in the milk. You don't want lumps. They are the cellulite of custards and bechamels everywhere, and while we may not be in control our own cellulite, we should take care not to carry it over into the cooking arena. Keep cooking and stirring until the mixture thickens and boils.It will be really quite thick now.


Add in the cheeses and let them gently melt through.(I used blue cheese, so any little weird coloured bits you can see are just that and black pepper)

Take off the heat and cool for about 5mins. Stir in the egg yolks until well combined.

Cool for another 10mins or so.



Now, beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until you get soft peaks. Not stiff peaks, you are not making a meringue, or showing off by holding the bowl upside down over your head.

Place about a third of the whites into the cheesy mix and gently combine. This is to lighten the mix and allow you to incorporate the rest of the whites without knocking out all the airiness. Gently fold through the rest of them.


Divide among the dishes, but be careful not to be rough and destroy the delicate little bubbliness of the mix.

Boil the kettle. Place the dishes in a roasting dish and place it in the oven. Working quickly, pour in enough of the boiling water to come halfway up the height of the dishes. Why not do this first? Well, its hard to manoeuvre a pan full of little dishes and hot, hot water around the kitchen without splashing the water all over yourself, or even worse, into the souffles themselves, rendering all that hard work pointless. The choice is yours, dear Reader, choose wisely.

Cook for about 25 minutes until puffed and golden. They need to be firm looking on top, with some structural integrity so we can turn them out. Remove from the oven and water bath, and stand for 10 minutes. Do Not Be Alarmed! The precious beauties WILL deflate a bit. This is not a problem. They are MEANT to do this. It is in their nature. Loosen their edges with a silicon spatula, then pop them out of their dishes and onto a tray. Let them cool.

This is the stage where you can continue on straight away for serving, or tuck them away in the fridge- or even freezer until later. Remember what I said in my Gingerbread post about being prepared? If your friends are impressed with the biscuits, they will be Blown Away by a souffle!

Anyway, to finish off the little lovelies,

Preheat the oven to about 180-200*

Place souffles on a baking tray or dish.

Spoon a little cream over them and sprinkle some grated cheese on top. Bake for 15-20 mins until nurture overcomes nature and they again puff up with air the way you will with pride when you serve them to your crowd of admiring diners.

These are lovely for lunch with a rocket and fig salad, perhaps with some prosciutto, and a white balsamic vinaigrette. Don't forget they're quite rich. (And yummy!) and a nice white wine, of course.

So Dear Readers, do you like goat or sheep cheese, and what makes you puff with pride?