LA BONNE CUISINE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 65, 17 March 1934, Page 3 (Supplement)

LA BONNE CUISINE.

SOME DELICIOUS SOUFFLES. A SIMPLE ART. (By A FRENCH CHEF.) Souffles are delicious and easily digested, no trouble to prepare and practically cook themselves while the first course of the meal is being eaten. Here are a few excellent souffle recipes: — Vanilla Souffle.—ln a casserole, melt a small dessertspoonful of fresh butter, blend it with lAoz flour, add gradually i pint warm milk, stir to a smooth paste with a few drops of vanilla essence. When slightly cooked, add three yolks of eggs, 3oz sugar, a small pinch of salt, and finally, the very stiffly beaten whites of eggs. Add only a quarter of the eggwhite at first, and beat it thoroughly to get a perfectly smooth paste, and then stir the rest in lightly. Put into a wellbuttered fire-proof dish, and bake 25 minutes in a moderate oven. Serve immediately when done.

New Laid Only.—Use new laid eggs only. The whites must be very stiff. If your dish is shallow, tie a band of buttered paper round it to prevent the mixture from running over. The souffle should rise well and be nicely browned on the top. The quantity given will be sufficient for four persons. Chocolate souflle is made exactly like the vanilla one, and 2oz grated chocolate are added to and dissolved in the milk Almond Souffle.—Leave out the vanilla and add loz of ground almonds and a few drops of almond essence as well. Macaroon Souffle.—Add to the mixture lioz of crumbled macaroons before stirring in the beaten whites. Lemon Souffle.—lnstead of vanilla, add grated lemon-rind and a few drops of lemon juice. Orange Souffle.—Substitute orange juice and rind of lemon. Add two 01 three drops of maraschino. Fruit Souffles. An interesting variation are fruit souffles, for which bottled fruit can be used with advantage. Gooseberry Souffle.—Strain Alb of gooseberries and rub through a sieve. Beat three yolks of eggs to a frotli with 2|oz sugar, and a little grated lemon-rind, the fruit pulp, and lastly, the stiffly beaten whites. Bake in a moderate oven.

Other Fruit Flavours.—Peaches, apricots, raspberries and pineapples are used [ in exactly the same way, the flavour of I the first being much improved by the [addition of half a teaspooiiful of sherry. More liquid will make the souffle sodden, and prevent it from rising. Apple Souffles,. —Peel and core four medium-sized apples and put them carefully in two spoonfuls of water, flavoured with a suspicion of rum and a small teaspoonful of butter. While this is simmering, beat up four yolks of eggs with three tablespoonfuls of sugar, froth. Add a tablespoonful of ground almonds, half a tablespoonful grated bread (preferably brown), and the stifflybeaten whites. Stand the cooked apples side by side in the buttered baking dish, pour the egg mixture over them, taking care not to make the dish too full, and bake the souffle in a moderate oven for 25 minutes. Serve with red currant jell v. A Normandy Omelet.—Three large cooking apples, ioz fresh butter, two tablespoonfuls castor sugar, two tablespoonfuls powdered macaroons, four ez powdered cinnamon, one teaspoonful chopped nuts. Peel, core, slice and cook apples in a pan, with three tablespoonfuls water and sugar, till a soft pulp. Add butter, mix thoroughly also, the pow dered macaroons, beaten yolks of eggs and cinnamon to flavour. Whisk white°of eggs till stiff froth, stir to other ingredients lightly. Thickly butter a deep, fireproof baking dish, pour in mixture, dredge over a little castor sugar, place dish on a baking sheet in hot oven for 20 minutes, until nicely puffed up and lightly browned. Sprinkle chopped nut« on top. Serve at once from dish it was cooked in.

Lac du Bois Delice.—The "lac" (lake) consists of a. pint of greengage jelly dissolved in a pint of Hot water and poured into a shallow dish. When the jelly is set, the boats (sponge cakes baked in boat-shaped tins) are arranged on it.

Fruit Ices.—Take Alb fresh suitable fruit. Put into a basin with a little sugar, mash with a spoon, and rub through a hair sieve, then add one pint of eream or custard, the juice of half a lemon, and sweeten to taste, and freeze.