Truthfully I got this idea from a restaurant in Florida. The meal was unmemorable, but when we first sat down the waiter told us that the place specialized in souffles and he went through a list of the types they offered -- one was a Smores Souffle. We didn't have any souffle, but I was intrigued by the idea and told my wife I would create one when we got home -- the opportunity presented itself soon thereafter when she had some ladies over for a small holiday party. So here is what I did:
Joe's Smores Souffle
I made five individual souffles. To make a large souffle use a few more egg whites (7- 8). You shouldn't have to change the amount of chocolate and will likely only use a bit more marshmallow fluff.
5 Lg eggs separated
About 4-5 graham crackers -- pulverized in processor
1/2 cup of sugar or to taste
butter for white sauce (tablespoon or so)
flour for white sauce (tablespoon or so)
1 cup heated milk (I used 1%)
One container marshmallow fluff (7 ozs or so)
One large (4 oz) Hershey's brand chocolate bar (I decided to go with the original)
Optional: dash or two of Cream of Tartar
butter for buttering molds
5 small ramekins
If you haven't read my previous blog on souffles, you might want to start there. But trust me, souffles are EASY.
Prepare ramekins ahead of time by buttering and then sprinkling with the graham cracker crumbs. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
When you have all ingredients ready to go, start with the white sauce. Heat butter over medium flame until melted; stir in flour until blended. Raise heat to med-high and then stir in hot milk. It should thicken right away. Then add sugar and blend well until absorbed. Reduce heat to medium. Mix in two or three of the egg yolks to thicken a bit further and to enrich the sauce. Then break the chocolate bar into pieces and add them to the sauce and stir until they have all been added and are nicely melted.
At this point I truly had to begin the creative part. I decided to add about half the container of the marshmallow fluff to the sauce. I did this by tablespoons and stirred only enough for it to begin to break into clumps. I didn't want the clumps to completely melt at this stage and become incorporated into the chocolate.
Now turn off the heat, remove from burner, and whip the egg whites until soft peaks form (can add cream of tartar while whipping -- helps hold the rise). Blend 1/3rd of egg whites into sauce well, then fold gently remaining egg whites into mixture. Gently spoon mixture into ramekins until full (may puff up a bit above rim which is okay). At this point I added a large dollop of marshmallow gently to the center top of each filled ramekin.
Place these in 350 oven and watch them burst! 10-15 minutes. Mine came up out of the ramekins and formed an amazing mushroom-like shape with the melted ball of marshmallow in the center. These were GREAT!
Optional: sprinkle some more graham cracker crumbs on top when they are done.
Variation: I might try marshmallows themselves the next time. See how that differs from using fluff.
Enjoy!
Joe Koob
Next: Moroccan Fusion Dinner
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Seafood Chowder
Seafood chowder
This is a great time of year for soup and chowder. Enjoy the warmth it brings to the table. I'm going to serve this with Popovers -- I'll give you that recipe on the next blog.
Since I haven't actually made this yet -- later today -- I'll tell you what I intend to do. Just be aware that I might actually tweak this as I go. One never knows what the creative juices might add to the pot during the actual process.
Ingredients:
Clams -- one cup small clams or lg. clams chopped -- I like large pieces. [If you steam the clams open yourself, do so in a small amount of liquid and save the liquid for the chowder (make sure you strain it through a fine sieve and preferably a linen towel or at least cheesecloth).
Fish -- about 1/2 a pd or so; almost any white fish with firm flesh will do -- I'm going to use Stripper bass I caught off N.J.
Shrimp -- 1/2 a pound, chopped in a large dice
One Idaho or other firm potato (about 1/2 a pound, peeled and chopped in small dice)
Peas or Corn or both (Veggies added can be to your own taste and the season, almost anything goes that doesn't take away from the rich broth and flavor of the fish)
Celery, fine to medium chop -- to taste (1/2 a cup)
Onions, fine to medium chop -- to taste (1/2 a cup)
Garlic (optional, couple of cloves minced)
One small bay leaf
pinch or two of thyme
large pinch or two of parsley, or fresh chopped -- couple of tablespoons
Salt and pepper to taste [NOTE! Seafood can be salty on its own; this is one of those times I actually taste the broth before adding to the pot.]
Fish broth and/or clam broth, a quart or so (quantity dependent on how much chowder you want and how thick with ingredients you want it).
Milk or Cream (Cream obviously adds calories and cholesterol)
A bit of butter (your choice to add for flavor, or not)
Thickener [Note: I like a THICK chowder, so I typically thicken it near end of cooking time. You can argue about what to use -- I use flour, typically, but try to keep it to a tablespoon or so. Corn starch or even egg yolks (more cholesterol) can also be used.]
This is simple to make once you have all the ingredients ready. Saute onions, celery, and garlic (if used) in butter or olive oil until translucent. [Note: browning these veggies more will change the flavor and add a richness to the broth -- your choice]. Put everything in the pot, including the celery/onion mixture, but NOT the rest of the veggies and reserve some of the milk or cream. Simmer for an hour or more on very low heat in a nice heavy pan(should just barely roil in center of pot). I like to give it a couple of hours for everything to blend.
This next part is optional: turn off heat and let the chowder sit for a couple of hours to blend flavors. You can take out the bay leaf at this point.
Turn heat back on about a hour before serving -- add rest of veggies and return to a simmer. Cook forty minutes or so until potatoes are soft.
Mix flour in with reserved milk and add to gently boiling broth. Stir to thicken. Serve warm with freshly made bread, corn bread, or popovers.
Enjoy!
This is a great time of year for soup and chowder. Enjoy the warmth it brings to the table. I'm going to serve this with Popovers -- I'll give you that recipe on the next blog.
Since I haven't actually made this yet -- later today -- I'll tell you what I intend to do. Just be aware that I might actually tweak this as I go. One never knows what the creative juices might add to the pot during the actual process.
Ingredients:
Clams -- one cup small clams or lg. clams chopped -- I like large pieces. [If you steam the clams open yourself, do so in a small amount of liquid and save the liquid for the chowder (make sure you strain it through a fine sieve and preferably a linen towel or at least cheesecloth).
Fish -- about 1/2 a pd or so; almost any white fish with firm flesh will do -- I'm going to use Stripper bass I caught off N.J.
Shrimp -- 1/2 a pound, chopped in a large dice
One Idaho or other firm potato (about 1/2 a pound, peeled and chopped in small dice)
Peas or Corn or both (Veggies added can be to your own taste and the season, almost anything goes that doesn't take away from the rich broth and flavor of the fish)
Celery, fine to medium chop -- to taste (1/2 a cup)
Onions, fine to medium chop -- to taste (1/2 a cup)
Garlic (optional, couple of cloves minced)
One small bay leaf
pinch or two of thyme
large pinch or two of parsley, or fresh chopped -- couple of tablespoons
Salt and pepper to taste [NOTE! Seafood can be salty on its own; this is one of those times I actually taste the broth before adding to the pot.]
Fish broth and/or clam broth, a quart or so (quantity dependent on how much chowder you want and how thick with ingredients you want it).
Milk or Cream (Cream obviously adds calories and cholesterol)
A bit of butter (your choice to add for flavor, or not)
Thickener [Note: I like a THICK chowder, so I typically thicken it near end of cooking time. You can argue about what to use -- I use flour, typically, but try to keep it to a tablespoon or so. Corn starch or even egg yolks (more cholesterol) can also be used.]
This is simple to make once you have all the ingredients ready. Saute onions, celery, and garlic (if used) in butter or olive oil until translucent. [Note: browning these veggies more will change the flavor and add a richness to the broth -- your choice]. Put everything in the pot, including the celery/onion mixture, but NOT the rest of the veggies and reserve some of the milk or cream. Simmer for an hour or more on very low heat in a nice heavy pan(should just barely roil in center of pot). I like to give it a couple of hours for everything to blend.
This next part is optional: turn off heat and let the chowder sit for a couple of hours to blend flavors. You can take out the bay leaf at this point.
Turn heat back on about a hour before serving -- add rest of veggies and return to a simmer. Cook forty minutes or so until potatoes are soft.
Mix flour in with reserved milk and add to gently boiling broth. Stir to thicken. Serve warm with freshly made bread, corn bread, or popovers.
Enjoy!
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