60 Minute Gourmet

I never throw anything out. My Mother thankfully kept a lot of good stuff I valued. My fashion magazines and books were stored in boxes.The fashion magazines have long since gone,but a lot of cookbooks remain.One of my first cookbooks as a pre-teenager was The New York Times 60-Minute Gourmet(1979). Yes that's was the type of child I was.The late Pierre Franey collaborated with the late Craig Claiborne on this great book and others that changed the way America cooked at home. Pierre Franey believed many great gourmet dishes can be prepared in a hour with good preparation and well stocked pantry. He pairs a entree and a side on each page.I chose to make a cheese souffle , which I never made before,and he makes seem so simple.I paired this with another entree, since the souffle was so light.Rather than the Swiss or Gruyere cheese, and Parmesan ,that was called for, I used Gouda,Peccorino Romano and some chives for color.I chose Poulet Scarpiello (chicken in white wine)as the main entree. Can I just say I love making souffles. My first attempt was sloppy(need one big dish rather than individual ramekins) but I can see myself having fun with these.Pierres Franey took the fear of making these out. No more images of the famous scene in Sabrina where all the classes souffles fall. The taste was pretty good. Light and buttery. Certain Someone came home a little later than planned and was hungry. He ate all, but declared it wasn't his type of food( naturally it wasn't pasta or sausages for a change). Certain Someone went into the refrigerator for leftover SPAM. Yes we have SPAM. He loves it. I have come to tolerate it , but it has to be cooked crisp like bacon for me. I admit I was still hungry afterwards too. I ate another mini souffle. but still was hungry. The meal had a lot of flavor but was very light. And I don't think that's a bad thing as I want to cut back but eat well.

Souffle au Fromage adapted from The New York Times 60-Minute Gourmet 1979

Pierre Franey

Cheese Souffle

1/4 Swiss or preferably Gruyere

2 cups milk

3 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons of butter

6 large eggs

4 tablespoons flour

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Pinch of Cayenne Pepper

2 teaspoons cornstarch

1 tablespoon water

1/4 finely grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.Grate cheese into tiny cubes. It should be about 3/4 cup. Set aside. Heat milk to just about to boil.Butter your souffle dishes/dish with the 2 teaspoons of butter.Separate the egg yolks from whites.Put whited into mixing bowl to beaten stiff .

Melt 3 tablespoons of butter in a saucepan.Add flour and stir with wire whisk until smooth. Add hot milk to mix,stirring rapidly with whisk. Add salt,pepper,cayenne,nutmeg, stirring for approx 5 minutes.Blend cornstarch and water and add. Remove from heat.Add yolks stirring rapidly.Scrape mixture into a large mixing bowl and add Parmesan cheese. Beat egg whites until stiff.Add half the whites to the sauce and fold in with the whisk. Add remaining whites and grated cubed cheese and fold into mixture with rubber spatula.Fold until all is Incorporated.Pour and scrape mixture in souffle dish and bake for 20 min.