by Julia Child
To Serve Cold. Store as above, or chill for 10 minutes in ice water. Remove one by one with a slotted spoon, and roll over a clean towel to blot off water.
To Serve Hot. Lower chilled eggs into a pan of lightly salted simmering water and let warm up for 1 minute, then remove.
VARIATIONS
EGGS BENEDICT. Toast and butter English-muffin halves or crustless circles of brioche bread (which I prefer, since I find the muffins tough and hard to cut). Top each toast with a round of sautéed ham, a warm poached egg, and hollandaise sauce. Then, if you are feeling luxurious, slide on a warm, buttery slice of black truffle.
SOUFFLÉ VENDÔME. Arrange 4 toasted and buttered French-bread rounds in a 6-cup baking dish, and top with 4 cold poached eggs. Cover with the cheese soufflé, and bake as directed. This dish always amazes your guests, and the eggs emerge perfectly done.
SALAD OF CURLY ENDIVE WITH BACON AND POACHED EGGS.
Shirred Eggs
Here, for individual servings, the egg or eggs are broken into a shallow dish and started on top of the stove but finished under the broiler. The white is softly set but the yolk is filmed over with a translucent film. A deliciously buttery egg dish, but hardly a diet one!
Here is how to proceed. Provide yourself with a sufficient number of shallow flameproof baking dishes about 4 inches across, slide the oven rack onto the upper level, preheat the broiler, and melt about 2 tablespoons butter per serving. For each serving, set one of the dishes over moderately low heat and pour in 1 tablespoon melted butter. When bubbling, break in 1 or 2 eggs and cook for about 30 seconds, just to set a thin layer of white in the bottom of the dish. Remove from heat, and baste top of eggs with a teaspoon of melted butter. Place on a baking sheet, and do the same with your other baking dishes. Just before serving, set 1 inch under the broiler and cook for about 1 minute, sliding dishes in and out every few seconds and basting with a little more butter. When the whites are set and the yolks are filmed, season and serve immediately.
ADDITIONS AND VARIATIONS
SHIRRED EGGS WITH CREAM. After starting the eggs on top of the stove, pour 2 tablespoons of heavy cream over them and set under the broiler to finish. No basting is necessary.
SHIRRED EGGS GRATINÉED WITH CHEESE. Proceed as with the cream, above, topping it with a teaspoon of grated Swiss or Parmesan cheese.
SHIRRED EGGS AU BEURRE NOIR—WITH BLACK BUTTER SAUCE. Use just a teaspoon of butter to baste the eggs under the broiler, and when done, dress them with black-butter sauce (see box below), adding the suggested chopped parsley and capers as well.
GARNITURES. Just before serving, you could surround the eggs with sautéed mushrooms, kidneys, chicken livers, tomato sauce, sautéed green and red peppers, or whatever. However, I think the following eggs in ramekins take better to such additions.
BLACK BUTTER SAUCE—BEURRE NOIR. A wonderful sauce for fish and egg dishes. For about ½ cup, cut 1 stick of butter into ¼-inch slices and melt in a 6-inch frying pan. When bubbling, increase heat to high. Swirl the pan by its handle as the bubbles subside and the butter rapidly begins to brown. In a few seconds, as soon as it is a nice walnut brown (not black!), pour it over the food.
NOTE: Before saucing the food, you may wish to sprinkle on a teaspoon or so of chopped fresh parsley, which will sizzle as the hot sauce goes over it, then swirl a tablespoon or so of capers in the pan, and divide them over the sauced food.
Eggs Baked in Ramekins
These are a more leisurely egg dish than the preceding shirred eggs, with their rapid ins and outs from under the broiler. Here the eggs are broken into little buttered custard cups, and set in a pan of hot water to bake in the oven for 7 to 10 minutes. They can be simple, with just a base of cream, or you can put a filling in the bottom of the cup—a great way to use leftover cooked spinach, chopped mushrooms, cooked onions, or whatever enticing item you have on hand.
Slide the rack onto the lower-middle level, and preheat the oven to 375°F. For each serving, pour 1 tablespoon heavy cream into a buttered ½-cup ramekin and place in a pan containing ½ inch of simmering water over moderate heat. When the cream is hot, break in 1 or 2 eggs; pour over another tablespoon of cream; and top with a dot of butter. Bake for 7 to 10 minutes, until softly set—they should still tremble slightly, since they will set a little more in their ramekins after being removed from the oven. Remove from the oven; season with salt and pepper, and serve.
ADDITIONS AND VARIATIONS
AUX FINES HERBES—WITH MINCED GREEN HERBS. Add a teaspoon or so to the cream for each serving—one or a mixture of parsley, chives, tarragon, chervil.
WITH VARIOUS SAUCES. Instead of cream, use a brown sauce with mushrooms, a cheese sauce, a tomato sauce, a curry sauce, an onion sauce, etc. A good occasion for using up your precious leftovers.
BOTTOM FILLERS. Spread in the bottom of each ramekin a tablespoon or so of such attractive items as cooked and nicely flavored diced asparagus, broccoli, spinach, artichoke bottoms, diced ham, mushrooms, chicken livers, or shellfish. A slice of black truffle would be a happy surprise, as would a generous spoonful of foie gras.
Hard-Boiled Eggs
When you are stuffing hard-boiled eggs for the family, it is just too bad if they refuse to peel neatly, but when you are doing them for a party, it’s a disaster. The following rather cumbersome system, developed by the State of Georgia Egg Board, pretty well solves the problem.
For 12 eggs (I don’t recommend more at one time). Pierce a pinhole ¼ inch deep into the large end of each egg—allowing the air bubble to escape. Place the eggs in a deep saucepan and cover with 3½ quarts of cold water. Bring just to the rolling boil, remove from heat, cover the pan, and let sit for exactly 17 minutes. Transfer the eggs to a bowl of ice and water and let chill for 2 minutes—to shrink the egg body from the shell. Meanwhile, reheat cooking water to the boil. Lower 6 chilled eggs at a time into the boiling water and let boil exactly 10 seconds—to expand the shell from the egg body.
Let chill for 20 minutes or more—well-chilled eggs are easier to peel. To peel, crack each egg gently all over on your work surface, then peel under a small stream of cold water, starting at the large end. The eggs will keep perfectly for several days when submerged in cold water and left uncovered in the refrigerator.
VARIATIONS
A SIMPLE BASE FOR COLD STUFFED EGGS. For 2 dozen egg halves. Slice 12 peeled chilled eggs in half lengthwise, and sieve the yolks into a bowl. Blend in 2 tablespoons each of mayonnaise and softened unsalted butter, and season to taste with salt and freshly ground white pepper. Pipe the stuffing into the egg-white halves using a pastry bag fitted with a star tip. Decorate, if you wish, with parsley sprigs and bits of red pimiento. Or finely mince and add to the base stuffing any of the following:
1- Fresh green herbs such as dill, basil, tarragon, parsley, chives, chervil
2- Cooked asparagus tips
3- Minced onions sautéed in butter with a pinch of curry powder
4- Sautéed mushroom duxelles
5- Lobster, crab, or shrimp sautéed in butter and seasonings
6- Smoked salmon
7- Pickles—sweet relish or dills
8- Black-olive tapénade (see box below)
TAPÉNADE. 1 cup pitted Mediterranean-style black olives, 3 tablespoons capers, 6 oil-packed anchovy fillets, and 1 large clove of puréed garlic all ground to a paste in a food processor.
BAKED STUFFED EGGS. A very French luncheon or supper dish. Sieve the yolks and blend in heavy cream and a stuffing, such as minced mushrooms.
Stuffed Eggs au Gratin, Chimay. For 4 people. Sieve the yolks of a dozen hard-boiled eggs and blend in ¼ cup or so each of heavy cream and mushroom duxelles. Bake them, 6 halves at a time, in individual dishes, in a well-seasoned cheese sauce, exactly as for the cauliflower au gratin.
SOUFFLÉS
The soufflé is the egg at its most magnificent. How glorious it is when borne to the table, its head rising dramatically out of its dish, and swaying voluptuously as
it is set down. Invite special guests to lunch and you couldn’t serve them a more appropriate and attractive light meal than cheese soufflé and a green salad, or plan on a chocolate soufflé as a loving treat for your most favorite dinner guests. Fortunately, a reasonably well-assembled soufflé is an automatic happening. It is simply a flavored sauce base into which you fold stiffly beaten egg whites, and depends almost entirely on how you beat your egg whites and how you fold them in—and these two specifics are fully explained in the cake section.
MASTER RECIPE
Savory Cheese Soufflé For a 4-to-6-cup soufflé mold or straight-sided baking dish 8 inches across, serving 4
You can bake this in a 4-cup mold with a paper collar, into which the soufflé will puff 2 to 3 inches over the rim and hold its puff when the collar is removed. Or bake it in a 6-cup mold, which will give you a more stable soufflé but less puff.
1 to 1½ Tbs soft butter for the soufflé dish and collar
2 Tbs finely grated Parmesan cheese for the soufflé dish
2½ Tbs butter for the soufflé
3 Tbs flour
1 cup hot milk
¼ tsp paprika
A speck of grated nutmeg
½ tsp salt
2 or 3 grinds of white pepper
4 egg yolks
5 egg whites
1 cup (3½ ounces) coarsely grated Swiss cheese
Prepare the soufflé dish. (See box below.) Slide rack onto lower-third level, and preheat oven to 400°F.
The Sauce Base. Cook the 2½ tablespoons butter and 3 tablespoons flour together in a 3-quart saucepan until they foam and froth for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and beat in the hot milk, then simmer and stir slowly for a minute or two to thicken. Remove from heat and whisk seasonings into sauce, then, one by one, the egg yolks.
Whip the egg whites to stiff, shining peaks. Whisk a quarter of them into the sauce to lighten it, then delicately fold in the rest of the whites, alternating with sprinklings of the grated Swiss cheese.
Turn the soufflé mixture into the dish and set in the oven. Reduce heat to 375°F and bake 25 to 30 minutes, until soufflé has puffed several inches into the collar, or an inch or two above the rim, and has browned nicely on top. When is it really done?
Remove the collar and serve at once.
To Serve a Soufflé. So as to deflate it as little as possible, hold a serving spoon and fork upright and back to back. Plunge them into the center of the soufflé and tear it apart.
TO PREPARE THE SOUFFLÉ DISH. Choose a straight-sided baking dish or a “charlotte” mold. Smear a light coating of soft butter over the insides of the dish, covering bottom and sides. Depending on the soufflé, roll finely grated Parmesan cheese, or bread crumbs, or granulated sugar in the dish to cover inner surface completely, and knock out excess.
The Collar. If you are using a collar, cut a length of parchment paper or aluminum foil long enough to wrap around the dish with a 2-inch overlap, fold in half lengthwise, and butter one side. Wrap the collar around the dish, buttered side in; it should rise 3 inches above the rim. Secure in place with 2 straight pins, inserted heads up for quick removal.
VARIATIONS
VEGETABLE SOUFFLÉS. After making the sauce base, fold in ¼ to ⅓ cup of well-seasoned cooked chopped spinach, asparagus, broccoli, or mushrooms. Complete the soufflé as directed, but fold in only ⅓ cup of the grated Swiss cheese.
SHELLFISH SOUFFLÉS. Make a cup or so of creamed lobster, crab or shrimp and spread in the bottom of the buttered soufflé dish. Cover with the soufflé mixture but fold in only ⅓ cup of the grated Swiss cheese. You might serve the fresh tomato fondue along with it.
SALMON AND OTHER FISH IN SOUFFLÉS. The soufflé is a dressy solution for leftover fish. Stir a cup or so of cooked flaked fish into the sauce base, and give extra flavor by adding several tablespoons of minced shallots sautéed in butter and a tablespoon or two of minced fresh dill. Again, cut down the grated Swiss cheese to ⅓ cup. Hollandaise sauce would go well here.
WHEN IS THE SOUFFLÉ DONE? If it has a collar, rapidly release it just a bit to check—if the puff sags, refasten the collar and bake a few minutes more. When a skewer is plunged down into the side of the puff and comes out with a few particles clinging, the soufflé will be deliciously creamy inside but will not hold up long. If the skewer comes out clean, it will hold up a little longer.
SOUFFLÉ ON A PLATTER. Rather than in a deep dish, you may bake a soufflé on a platter or in a gratin dish. For 4 people, butter a 12-to-14-inch oval ovenproof platter and arrange on it four ½-cup mounds of a deliciously flavored something, like the creamed shellfish. Heap a quarter of the finished soufflé mixture over each, top with grated Swiss cheese, and bake 15 minutes or so in a preheated 425°F oven, until puffed and brown.
SOUFFLÉ ROULADE—THE ROLLED SOUFFLÉ. For an 11-by-17-inch jelly-roll pan, serving 6 to 8 people. Slide rack onto upper-third level of oven, and preheat to 425°F. Butter the pan and line with parchment or wax paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang at each end. Butter the paper and flour it, knocking out excess. Follow the master recipe, but increase proportions to the following: 5 tablespoons butter, 6 tablespoons flour, 1½ cups milk, 6 yolks, 7 whites, and 1 cup of grated Swiss cheese. Spread the soufflé mixture in the pan and bake for 12 minutes or so, until just well set—don’t overcook, or it will crack when rolled. Sprinkle bread crumbs over the top and invert the soufflé onto another paper-covered baking sheet. Carefully peel off the paper lining. Spread over the soufflé 1¼ cups or so of any warm, well-seasoned filling, such as pipérade, sautéed mushrooms and diced ham, the creamed shellfish, or other. Roll up the soufflé and top decoratively, if you wish, with more filling, and/or a sauce such as the tomato fondue, or hollandaise.
DESSERT SOUFFLÉS
Soufflé for dessert—that always means a party. The same general principles of the beating and folding in of egg whites apply to sweet soufflés as to main-course soufflés, but since dessert soufflés should be light and airy, there are differences in the sauce base. You could use a white sauce or a pastry cream, but I prefer the bouillie, outlined below, and you’ll note that the egg whites are given more body by being beaten with sugar.
MASTER RECIPE
Vanilla Soufflé For a 6-cup soufflé dish, serving 4 people
3 Tbs flour
¼ cup milk
⅓ cup plus 2 Tbs granulated sugar
4 egg yolks
2 Tbs butter, softened (optional)
5 egg whites
2 Tbs pure vanilla extract
Confectioners’ sugar in a fine sieve
Prepare the soufflé dish and affix the paper collar as directed in the box. Slide the rack onto the lower-third level of the oven, and preheat to 400°F.
Whisk the flour and half the milk in a saucepan. When well blended, whisk in the remaining milk and the ⅓ cup sugar. Then bring to the boil and boil slowly, whisking, for 30 seconds. This is now a bouillie. Remove from heat; let cool for a moment, then, one by one, beat in the yolks and the optional butter.
Whip the egg whites to soft peaks, sprinkle in the 2 tablespoons sugar, and beat to stiff, shining peaks. Whisk the vanilla into the sauce base, then whisk in a quarter of the whites to lighten it. Delicately fold in remaining whites and turn the mixture into the prepared dish.
Set in the oven, reduce heat to 375°F, and bake until the soufflé has begun to puff and brown—about 20 minutes. Rapidly slide out rack, and dust the top of the soufflé with confectioners’ sugar. Continue baking until it has puffed high into the collar. When is it done?
Remove collar and serve at once.
VARIATIONS
ORANGE SOUFFLÉ GRAND MARNIER. Follow the master recipe above, but purée the zest (colored part of peel) of a large orange with the ⅓ cup sugar in a blender or food processor, and use in the sauce base. Stir only 2 teaspoons vanilla into the base, but add 3 tablespoons orange liqueur.
CHOCOLATE SOUFFLÉ. Follow the preceding master recipe, but prepare a 2-quart dish to serv
e 8. Preheat oven to 425°F. Melt 7 ounces semisweet chocolate with ⅓ cup strong coffee. Make sauce base as directed in master recipe, using ⅓ cup flour and 2 cups milk; whisk at the slow boil for 2 minutes. Off heat, beat in 3 tablespoons optional butter, 1 tablespoon vanilla extract, a big pinch of salt, 4 egg yolks, and the melted chocolate. Whip 6 egg whites to soft peaks, add ½ cup sugar and whip to shiny peaks. Combine by ladling chocolate base down sides of egg-white bowl and folding rapidly to combine. Turn mixture into dish, set into oven, reduce to 375°F, and bake for 40 minutes, or until puff starts. Dust with confectioners’ sugar and bake until done. Serve with lightly whipped crème Chantilly.
SAVORY CUSTARDS
We often think of custards only as desserts—particularly everybody’s favorite, caramel custard (I’d like to be spooning up one of those right now!). But custards can also be main-course luncheon or supper dishes, or can accompany roasts, broils, and steaks. Whenever you are thinking of a soufflé on the menu, think also of its alternative, the custard—or timbale, in fancy-food language. It’s easier to make, and you need have no qualms about the perfection of your egg whites or about collapses. The custard holds, it waits, it can be rewarmed, it’s a smooth and sensuous pleasure to eat.