High-SocieTea
"Where the Art and Elegance of Taking Tea is Treasured"
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
"Cheesey Chivey Mini-Souffles"
Soufflés always engender excited anticipation of the very first bite. Burrowing down into the center of the bouffant serving with your spoon is almost an expedition in itself. These small, delicate soufflés will be a delight to the eyes as well as the palate.
1/2 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano
cheese, finely grated
1/3 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano
cheese, finely grated
3 tablespoons flour
Pinch of cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
3/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons dry vermouth
3 eggs, separated
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup minced fresh chives
3/4 cup finely grated Gruyere
cheese
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter four 4-oz. Ramekins with 1/2 tablespoon butter. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.
In a saucepan over medium-low heat, melt 2 tablespoons butter. Add flour, cayenne pepper and nutmeg; cook, whisking constantly, for 2 minutes.
Slowly add milk and vermouth, whisking until thickened, 2-3 minutes. Whisk in egg yolks, salt, chives, Gruyere and 1/3 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. Pour into bowl.
Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold a third of the egg whites at a time into the milk/vermouth mixture.
Fill a shallow metal pan two-thirds full with water, and bring to a boil. Using half of the soufflé batter, fill ramekins to the top; sprinkle with 2 tablespoons Parmigiano-Reggiano. Place ramekins in the pan, making sure that the water does not reach the top of the ramekins (a water bath). Bake about 17 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Place soufflés in their ramekins on plates and serve immediately. Serves 4.
You will have enough batter left over to make an additional 4 soufflés.
Considering the fragile nature of these soufflés, the delicate flavor of Elmwood Inn’s Darjeeling First Flush tea would complement them beautifully. A single-estate tea from the high foothills of the Himalayas, the leaves come from the first picking of the season. Darjeeling is India’s best known tea-growing state, and this tea is one of its finest. So a special treat like these souffles deserves nothing less.
