Sou-Fabulous Broccoli

Tonight I made the best soufflé I've ever had...of course this is the only soufflé I've ever had. So how do I know its not the worst soufflé ever? Well it tasted good in any event. It was fun to make. You have to separate the eggs in a souffle and that's something I always like doing. Then you have to whip the whites until stiff peaks form and hell that's fun. Then there's the 'folding' because if you just go 'stir-crazy' you'll basically undo the work you did getting the egg whites to hold all the air. So it was an interesting recipe to try. That and I have my eyes on a chocolate soufflé but I wanted to try something more run of the mill. Here's the recipe (Taste of Home Cookbook).

Broccoli soufflé

1 package (10 oz) frozen chopped broccoli, thawed and drained (though I didn't, see notes)

2 T butter
2 T flour
1/2 t salt
1/2 C milk
1/4 grated Parmesan cheese
4 eggs, separated

In a saucepan cook and stir broccoli and butter together until melted. You can set a little broccoli aside to top the soufflé later but you don't have to. Add flour and salt to the broccoli; stir tunil blended. Gradually add milk. Bring to a boil and cook for a couple minutes until thickened. Remove from heat and add cheese, stirring until melted.

In a large mixing bowl beat egg yolks until thickened and lemon-colored (the local eggs I buy have deep orange yolks and that ain't going to happen) for about 5 minutes (really??? I did it but didn't see any real change). Add broccoli mixture and set aside. In a small bowl beat the whites until they form stiff peaks (I feel really cook when I do this). FOLD (not mix) into the broccoli mixture.

Pour into an ungreased 1.5 or 2 qt ungreased baking dish. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes. Sprinkle with the reserved broccoli (if you kept any) and I put some more grated Parmesan on it. Then bake it for 10 MORE minutes or until knife inserted near the center comes out clean.

Upcoming: Roasting peanuts in the oven...peanut butter to come :)