CLICK HERE for Printable Recipe for John's Cheese Souffle from At Home with John Newman
Do you like cheese souffle? I do. I have tried many different recipes over the years with not very good luck with any of them. In fact, most times the souffle ended up a disaster. I could never get it to rise. So, I have been working on a new recipe for some time. Of course, a cheese souffle must have certain ingredients to make it a cheese souffle. So all cheese souffle recipes will have cheese and egg whites and milk. These three ingredients are essential. But the other ingredients and how they are prepared will differ. Today, you will be given my recipe for cheese souffle. I think you will like it. Read on.
We start out with Chicken in a Biskit crackers. You will need 1/3 cup crushed crackers.
Additional ingredients include three tablespoons of freshly chopped chives, 4 oz. PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, cubed, 1/4 lb. (4 oz.) cheese, cut into cubes.
Also, 1/2 cup milk and 4 large or extra large eggs, separated. Make certain that the eggs are at room temperature. Heat the oven to 375 degrees.
This is a standard, 8 inch, white, souffle dish. Every kitchen should have at least one of these dishes. They run $15.00 - $20.00 at retail stores and online.
Time to start preparing. First thing to do is spray your souffle dish with a good quality cooking spray. There is quite a variety to choose from these days. I used an Olive Oil cooking spray for this souffle.
Coat the bottom of the dish with your crushed Chicken in a Biskit crackers. Coat the sides of the dish as well, but you do not need to coat all the way to the rim of the dish. And the coating on the side does not need to be as heavy as the coating on the bottom.
Microwave milk, cheese and cream cheese in a large microwaveable bowl for 1-1/2 minutes. Remove from the microwave and mix the melted ingredients using a handheld whisk. Depending on your microwave wattage, you may have to place it back in to get the mixture completely smooth. Do this in 30 second increments, whisking thoroughly after each time in the microwave. When you are satisfied that the mixture is completely smooth and with no lumps, test the temperature of the mixture to make certain it is not too hot. We will be adding the egg yolks next and we don't want the cheese mixture so hot that it cooks them. Egg yolks begin to cook between 149 and 159 degrees.
Next, combine the four egg yolks with the freshly chopped chives. I used my handheld electric mixer with the whisk attachments to combine the yolks and chives. I whisked them until they just started to change to a light lemony color. About one minute.
Then add the egg yolk and chive mixture to the cheese mixture we made earlier in the microwave.
Next, the egg whites. This is what makes or breaks a souffle. You want to beat the egg whites on high speed until stiff peaks form. Again, I used my handheld mixer with the whisk attachments.
Let's take a minute at this step. I want to give you some advice on the egg white mixture. First, make certain that your whisk, whether handheld or attached to a mixer, is clean and completely dry. No water or moisture of any kind. The egg whites will not rise. Also, place the whisk(s) in the freezer if for only 5 minutes. The cold whisk helps the egg whites develop. A cool, dry bowl will help also. And one final thing, for this recipe, once the egg whites have started to stiffen a little, add two pinches of Cream of Tartar and continue whisking until they are stiff.
Until they are stiff, like you see in the picture above. Not overly stiff. Do you see how these still look a little glossy? That is what you want. Do not over-whisk. You do not want them too dry.
Now, it is time to begin incorporating the egg whites into the cheese and egg yolk mixture. Your oven is already at 375 degrees at this point. Use a large hand held whisk to gather up some of the egg white mixture and place it into the cheese. Fold, fold, fold, gently, rotating the whisk to get the egg white mixture incorporated into the cheese mixture. Continue adding the egg whites to the cheese mixture until you have gotten everything thoroughly mixed.
This is how is will look. Smooth. No lumps.
Now, pour it all into your souffle dish (or casserole dish as I used this time).
This is how it will look from the side. This is perfect and just how you want it to look. Place this on a rack set low in the oven, close the door and set the timer for 20 minutes. DO NOT open the door while it is cooking. It will deflate. If you want to check the progress, use the oven light.
Twenty minutes later, this is what you will have.
The most beautiful and perfect, ... and delicious cheese souffle you have ever eaten.
I used the convect bake cycle in my oven, which helps to distribute the air evenly throughout so that whatever you are cooking is evenly done. Twenty minutes was the perfect amount of time for me. As I have said before, oven temperatures vary. What works in one oven may not in another. Use your oven light to check your souffle. If it looks like this at twenty minutes, remove it. If if looks like it needs to cook a little longer, leave it in and check it every couple minutes.
I let it cool for awhile and then helped myself. Spectacular. Positively spectacular. Perfectly done. I added a scant sprinkling of cayenne pepper. Not a lot of heat, but just a spark here and there.
You see here, the inside is incredibly airy and the outside is just lightly browned.
Cheese souffle is a dish many are afraid to try. Believe me, I tried many, many recipes before I finally put one together that worked. And the majority of the recipes I tried were disasters. I never got a souffle to rise like this one. So I know this recipe works. Give it a try. I think you will be so pleased and so happy with how it turns out. This recipe is neither difficult nor time consuming to make and it is delicious. You will be proud to serve this to family or guests.
Do you like cheese souffle? I do. I have tried many different recipes over the years with not very good luck with any of them. In fact, most times the souffle ended up a disaster. I could never get it to rise. So, I have been working on a new recipe for some time. Of course, a cheese souffle must have certain ingredients to make it a cheese souffle. So all cheese souffle recipes will have cheese and egg whites and milk. These three ingredients are essential. But the other ingredients and how they are prepared will differ. Today, you will be given my recipe for cheese souffle. I think you will like it. Read on.
We start out with Chicken in a Biskit crackers. You will need 1/3 cup crushed crackers.
Additional ingredients include three tablespoons of freshly chopped chives, 4 oz. PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, cubed, 1/4 lb. (4 oz.) cheese, cut into cubes.
Also, 1/2 cup milk and 4 large or extra large eggs, separated. Make certain that the eggs are at room temperature. Heat the oven to 375 degrees.
I used a 7 cup glass Pyrex casserole dish which was the perfect size for this recipe. I used this because I was making this for the week and this dish has a plastic lid which makes storage in the refrigerator very easy. If I were serving this to company, I would have used my souffle dish.
 |
| Standard Souffle Dish |
This is a standard, 8 inch, white, souffle dish. Every kitchen should have at least one of these dishes. They run $15.00 - $20.00 at retail stores and online.
Time to start preparing. First thing to do is spray your souffle dish with a good quality cooking spray. There is quite a variety to choose from these days. I used an Olive Oil cooking spray for this souffle.
Coat the bottom of the dish with your crushed Chicken in a Biskit crackers. Coat the sides of the dish as well, but you do not need to coat all the way to the rim of the dish. And the coating on the side does not need to be as heavy as the coating on the bottom.
Microwave milk, cheese and cream cheese in a large microwaveable bowl for 1-1/2 minutes. Remove from the microwave and mix the melted ingredients using a handheld whisk. Depending on your microwave wattage, you may have to place it back in to get the mixture completely smooth. Do this in 30 second increments, whisking thoroughly after each time in the microwave. When you are satisfied that the mixture is completely smooth and with no lumps, test the temperature of the mixture to make certain it is not too hot. We will be adding the egg yolks next and we don't want the cheese mixture so hot that it cooks them. Egg yolks begin to cook between 149 and 159 degrees.
Next, combine the four egg yolks with the freshly chopped chives. I used my handheld electric mixer with the whisk attachments to combine the yolks and chives. I whisked them until they just started to change to a light lemony color. About one minute.
Then add the egg yolk and chive mixture to the cheese mixture we made earlier in the microwave.
Next, the egg whites. This is what makes or breaks a souffle. You want to beat the egg whites on high speed until stiff peaks form. Again, I used my handheld mixer with the whisk attachments.
Let's take a minute at this step. I want to give you some advice on the egg white mixture. First, make certain that your whisk, whether handheld or attached to a mixer, is clean and completely dry. No water or moisture of any kind. The egg whites will not rise. Also, place the whisk(s) in the freezer if for only 5 minutes. The cold whisk helps the egg whites develop. A cool, dry bowl will help also. And one final thing, for this recipe, once the egg whites have started to stiffen a little, add two pinches of Cream of Tartar and continue whisking until they are stiff.
Until they are stiff, like you see in the picture above. Not overly stiff. Do you see how these still look a little glossy? That is what you want. Do not over-whisk. You do not want them too dry.
Now, it is time to begin incorporating the egg whites into the cheese and egg yolk mixture. Your oven is already at 375 degrees at this point. Use a large hand held whisk to gather up some of the egg white mixture and place it into the cheese. Fold, fold, fold, gently, rotating the whisk to get the egg white mixture incorporated into the cheese mixture. Continue adding the egg whites to the cheese mixture until you have gotten everything thoroughly mixed.
This is how is will look. Smooth. No lumps.
Now, pour it all into your souffle dish (or casserole dish as I used this time).
This is how it will look from the side. This is perfect and just how you want it to look. Place this on a rack set low in the oven, close the door and set the timer for 20 minutes. DO NOT open the door while it is cooking. It will deflate. If you want to check the progress, use the oven light.
Twenty minutes later, this is what you will have.
The most beautiful and perfect, ... and delicious cheese souffle you have ever eaten.
 |
| After being removed from the oven, the souffle will begin to deflate a bit. |
I let it cool for awhile and then helped myself. Spectacular. Positively spectacular. Perfectly done. I added a scant sprinkling of cayenne pepper. Not a lot of heat, but just a spark here and there.
You see here, the inside is incredibly airy and the outside is just lightly browned.
Cheese souffle is a dish many are afraid to try. Believe me, I tried many, many recipes before I finally put one together that worked. And the majority of the recipes I tried were disasters. I never got a souffle to rise like this one. So I know this recipe works. Give it a try. I think you will be so pleased and so happy with how it turns out. This recipe is neither difficult nor time consuming to make and it is delicious. You will be proud to serve this to family or guests.
