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: ✔✔✔

Baked Zucchini

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

My other vegetable accompaniment for the burgers was this simple recipe.

Two zucchini were sliced in half lengthwise. A small baking dish had butter placed in it and it went in the oven until the butter had melted. The zucchinis now were rolled in the butter to cover them. They went in the oven with the potato casserole and cooked about the same time. When they were served the butter remaining in the casserole was poured over as a sauce.

 

Easy as—and useful when the oven is already on.

Taste: ✔✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔✔

Potato Casserole

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

I was looking for vegetables to accompany burgers; I prefer to eat my burgers without the buns even though I guess this doesn’t make them burgers but it’s the way I like them.

About 250g of potatoes were put in the saucepan with salted water, brought to the boil and cooked. They were then mashed with a little butter. The mash was placed in a small greased casserole.

An egg was beaten with half a cup of cream. Some grated cheddar cheese was stirred in, the mixture was seasoned and then poured over the potato mash. It went in a 180ºC oven for about half an hour until it was golden.

This was a different way to eat mashed potatoes. It was tasty—as mash always seems to be. I’m not too sure about calling this a casserole which always suggests to me a more liquid mix rather in the manner of a stew. Perhaps Potato Bake would suit it better.

Taste: ✔✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔