From a batch of maybe 50 cookbooks (I love to read and buy cookbooks) I picked out an older paper back with a faded white sticker marked $1 and simply titled “VEGETABLES”. Flipping through the pages, I found a recipe, Brussels Sprout Soufflé. Wanting something different and delicious – that was it!
The first ingredient was 1/4 # Brussels sprouts.
Mentally, that sounded reasonable. The fancy scale that weighs in pounds, ounces, or kilos, showed 4, yes four brussels sprouts weighing 1/4 pound! Now I had a bag full and had hoped to use up certainly more than four lousy Brussels sprouts, so I added a few more. What would the pioneers have done without a recipe book or a fancy scale when crossing the plains and finding a brussels sprout plant as well as a nest of eggs they hoped were chicken eggs? Maybe they wouldn’t try a Soufflé but measurements wouldn’t be precise. My Mormon background prevailed. I moved on.
Two pounds potatoes! What!!! This should be called Potato Soufflé! I also cut that way down, cooked them separately, as directed, “in boiling water until very soft”, and read “put through a pureeing device”. Here, I ran in to trouble. Trying several culinary devices, the brussels sprouts just wouldn’t break up.
Re-reading “pureeing”, oh, puree, I guess they want then totally mushy” and got out the Quisinart. Success.
Separating the eggs was no problem nor adding yolks but then I was to put the batter into a Soufflé dish. What was a soufflé dish? I had to call my talented cooking friend to find out, then hunt for something big enough and tall enough and oven proof but the real problem was I had probably enough batter to fill a cereal bowl but it did enlarge folding in the egg whites. I had baked it at 350 degrees for 25 minutes when my partner came hone. I gave him instructions I had heard of somewhere of being gentle with a Soufflé, no sudden change in temperature, not peeking into the oven periodically, no sudden jarring. we both carefully turned on the oven light, opened the door, and saw a slightly risen batter definitely not cooked. By extending the baking time, the oven door had to be opened more frequently to see what was happening. No wonder it wouldn’t rise to win a prize in my “new recipe experiments.
It took my well sighted friend to analyze the mistakes.
1. The temp was set at 300, not 350 degrees but the numbers have rubbed mostly off on the dial so I didn’t feel too guilty.
2. The recipe called for 1 and 1/4 pound Brussels sprouts, not 1/4. Macular degeneration causes me to eliminate the first letter or letters of words or in this case numbers.
3. Only 1/2 # potatoes. Same eye problem, but now I’m feeling guilty and embarrassed.
4. The fact that I had substituted sharp cheddar cheese for Gruyere...well, I didn’t know the difference in a Soufflé. but undoubtedly would have been more interesting.
Regardless of all this, the Soufflé tasted pretty good. I gave it 3 stars for taste and 2 stars for appearance. Served it with some delicious chicken whose juices helped the scoop of Soufflé on the plate, it didn’t taste bad at all.In fact, pretty darn good. I haven’t lost my joy of cooking.
I can give you my original chicken recipe if you’re interested.
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