I'm a fan of the long-running BBC series Doctor Who. When I was a child, I would watch it on Saturday nights on PBS. I longed to have my own mechanical dog, one just like K-9. (When I got a dog ten years ago, I gave her the middle name K-9. I hoped she would live up to the name and be a great protector and friend like K-9 was to the Doctor. PS She definitely lives up to it!)
I loved that big floppy hat Tom Baker wore and that long multi-colored scarf! I wanted to wear a sprig of celery on my lapel when Davison took over, and in more recent years, oh how I wanted a little red dress and lace up canvas shoes like Clara wore in Asylum of the Daleks. Clara aka Soufflé Girl. When we first met her, she was stranded on the planet the Daleks (evil space creatures) used as a prison/ward for other Daleks gone wrong. While stranded here, she passed the time making soufflés. In her banter with the Doctor she revealed she could never get a soufflé to turn out properly, even though she'd been trying for a year. For a whole year on a snowy, mountainous planet inhabited only by malfunctioning Daleks, she tried to make soufflés. This led the Doctor to wonder where did she get the eggs to make all these soufflés? Sadly, we ultimately discovered Clara "Oswin" Oswald was never making soufflés at all. It was her imagination. Her mind, commandeered by the Daleks, was trying to remain human and preserve hope by holding on to something dear. Her mother had said those words to her, "a soufflé isn't a soufflé, it's a recipe." For Clara, the soufflé was hope, rebellion, strength, and memory, and the recipe was her journey.
This blog and my endeavor to make these vintage recipes is part of my journey. Luckily, I haven't been overtaken by the most evil creatures in the universe. I'm not fighting for my humanity here, but I am discovering things about my human self. I'm discovering I can be a successful cook. I'm discovering I enjoy making new foods. I enjoy the simple pleasure of thumbing through those recipe cards, finding the one that sings out to me to try next. I like planning how I will make each one, and I like the hope of one day hitting the section called Crowd-Size Entertaining. I like having something to look forward to. I like feeling as though I've accomplished something, and I like having a sense of pride in something I made. Historically, I haven't been known as a good cook, so I WANT TO SAY THIS LOUDLY FOR ANYONE WHO THINKS THEY AREN'T A GOOD COOK: YOU ARE ARE GOOD COOK IN THE MAKING! If you haven't cooked much, yeah, your first recipes might fail from time to time. That doesn't mean you are a bad cook. That means you made a less than desirable meal on that occassion. Do not let your failures in food (or anything) define you. I wish I had realized this earlier in life. Another thing you "bad cooks" might consider: not everyone has the same taste preferences. If one person doesn't like something, it doesn't necessarily mean it is bad. It may just mean they didn't prefer it. Please also remember this: some people can be rude and ungrateful and their opinions should hold no weight on your worth-scale. Keep cooking, keep trying things that interest you, keep learning! Ok that's the end of the pep talk for both you and my past self. On to the soufflé.
Before the pandemic, a group of my friends and I, dubbed The Butter Group, would get together once a month for dinner. The name was derived from Julia Child's quotation: "If you're afraid of cream, use butter." This was another one of my embarkations to not only spend time with my friends, but to motivate myself to be a better cook. One year we did the dinners Iron Chef style where we would choose a theme ingredient and all make our dishes using that ingredient in some way. For example, once the ingredient was peaches, another time ginger ale. After a year, we moved out of Iron Chef mode and into themed dinners. We had an Irish dinner, a family recipes dinner, a tropical themed dinner, and a vintage dinner. For the vintage dinner, we each picked recipes from vintage cookbooks. I chose Amy Vanderbilt's cheese soufflé. I had never made one before and it was a success! I love it when a new recipe turns out well the first time! That was about five years ago, and despite the success of it, I hadn't made one since. When I came across Betty's recipe card for Cheese Soufflé For Four from the section Entertaining On A Shoestring, I remembered how nice that other soufflé had been and thought this was worth a go.
Betty Crocker Cheese Soufflé Take 1: I made one mistake and one poor decision which can account for my part of the less than showstopping results of the first attempt. Betty's poor instructions can account for another part. Let me break it down. My mistake: I put the cream of tarter in with the cheese mixture rather than in with the egg whites. I was hesitant to put more in once I realized I had made the mistake. My only prior experience with cream of tartar was in third grade when it was added to some mix of ingredients to make play-dough volcanos erupt. I didn't want my soufflé erupting like Kīlauea! Having now looked it up, cream of tartar helps stabilize whipped egg whites and acts as a leavening agent for baked goods. My guess is that 1/4 teaspoon extra wouldn't have really harmed anything.
My poor decision: the recipe card says to use a four cup soufflé dish or a one quart casserole dish. I had neither. I chose to use what is likely a 2 or 2.5 quart dish thinking it would rise anyway and the extra height would help contain the puffiness.
Other than that, I followed the recipe to the letter. Check out my beautiful mise en place!
The end result was ok. It didn't rise much, but it wasn't dense. It was flat like a quiche, but lighter and airier in texture. I used Tilamook Sharp Cheddar as my cheese because I find it stronger in flavor that other pre-packaged brands of similar cost. I stand by this choice because the flavor was not intensely cheesey, so to have used a milder cheese would have yielded blander results.
Fun side note here: I gave a piece to my friend Michael and he texted me later saying it was delicious and then just a text that said Suz Chef. I about lost my mind at the cleverness of this play on words. I had already titled and registered Recipe Redo for the blog, but, I hadn't really shared anything yet and there were only a handful of posts in the hopper, so to speak. I decided to run it by my friend and confidante Margie and run a Facebook poll. Suz Chef was the popular choice from the poll and Margie could find no objections, so I changed it. I suppose I am the executive chef now, though, not the sous chef! That's how this blog title was born. Thanks Michael!
I wasn't satisfied with soufflé one, though. I kept thinking back to the Amy Vanderbilt soufflé. I looked up "why my soufflé didn't rise" and the results suggested that either the cheese mixture hadn't been cooled enough when it was folded into the egg whites or that when they were encorporated, they were stirred too much. This is where Betty must be held to account. I also cross-referenced Amy's recipe, and Amy clearly instructs to not only remove the cheese mixture from the heat, but to set it aside for thirty minutes to cool. Betty says nothing about cooling for thirty minutes. It would also have been helpful to have a note saying DO NOT OVERMIX in big bold letters just like that. Betty does say to gently fold, which I did, but I would have folded less if told overmixing could result in poor rise.
Take 2: Followed Amy Vanderbilt's advice and let the cheese mixture cool for thirty minutes. Formed picture worthy stiff peaks with egg whites and added cream of tartar appropriately this time. Did not overmix. Also did a bains-marie this time as per Amy Vanderbilt.
photo of bains-marie
photos of stiff peaks and lemon-colored eggs
Also went out and bought the appropriately sized dish. Had to pick up other actual necessities, too, anyway. The right sized dish turned out to be as much a factor in success as anything else. Now I have a cute quart-sized baking dish and will need to find more recipes which will utilize it.
Look at the floof of this second attempt! So light and airy! Melt in your mouth soufflé achieved.
I imagine if these were handwritten recipe cards, I would have penciled in notes about cooling and not overmixing. There would be stains from where I got a little overzealous with the stirring and splattered some of it on the card. There might be a thumbprint cast in yolk. The recipe is the journey. So, if the soufflé isn't a soufflé, but a recipe, what makes a good recipe? What makes a good journey? Maybe it is the same.
1. an ingredients list
2. clear instructions are helpful in getting you where you want to be sooner, but trial and error/success can get you there, too.
3. the part that isn't printed - ambition, curiosity, playfulness, willingness, and like Clara, I've found that a good recipe involves keeping a place in your heart for what is dear and holding on to hope.
Rating:
As printed: 3 red spoons
With modifications: 5 red spoons!
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