Cha-Cha-Cha Cheese Souffle

The thought of making a cheese souffle does NOT make me do the Cha-Cha, it actually makes me a little nervous.  I've never made a savory souffle and I wasn't sure if I even liked them.  I order souffles for dessert when I see them, but they aren't my "go-to" dessert.  A little fear of the unknown.

OK, anyone out there who thinks a souffle is hard to make...RELAX.  Get your ingredients together, pour yourself a glass of wine and get started.  That's what I did.

 I let my husband pick the wine, so he thinks he's helping.

Butter your souffle mold, dust with bread crumb, tap out the excess, then set on a lined baking sheet.

I chose Emmenthal Cheese, which I had my husband grate the cheese, while I made the roux and blended in the milk, egg yolk, salt, pepper and nutmeg...mix, mix, mix and it's...Bechamel.

 Now whisk the egg whites until they hold a peak, then CAREFULLY fold into the bechamel.

 CAREFULLY pour the batter into the mold, then slide into the oven.  You can relax for at last 40 minutes...DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN for at least 20 minutes.

Voila...YUMMY!

You can find the recipe I used in Dorie Greenspan's AROUND MY FRENCH TABLE, you should get the cookbook, or download it to your I-pad, like I did!  Also, if you want to check out some other versions of cheese souffle, click here to see what the other cooks are doing at French Fridays with Dorie.