Cheese and Chive Soufflé

From Dinner Party Cookbook, The Australian Women’s Weekly, ACP Publishing, undated.

I seem to be going through a soufflé-making phase. One made last week and now another this week. This time it was to be individual ones whereas the last one was a shared one.

To begin I melted 65g butter in a saucepan, then took it off the heat to add ¼ cup plain flour with salt and pepper. One it was well mixed it was returned to the heat and ½ cup milk added all at once. It was stirred until it had thickened. Now, off the heat, 45g grated cheddar cheese was added with about a tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese. Once these had melted and the mixture had cooled 2 beaten egg yolks were stirred in and then a little under 2 tablespoons chopped chives. Now two egg whites were beaten until soft peaks had begun to form. The whites were folded in and the mixture went into buttered ramekins, then into a 180ºC oven to cook for about half an hour.

As the oven was heating up I made some celery croutes. Two slices of bread were de-crusted and cut into batons. These were brushed with melted butter and celery seeds sprinkled on. They went into the oven to become crisp.

Cheesy soufflés are so good to eat and these went so well with their gentle oniony flavour from the chives. Crunchy celery flavoured croutons were a good accompaniment.

Taste: ✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔