Was it the Chicken or was it the Egg?

How was it that you came by your interest it cooking? What were some of your first recipes and do you still make them? Do you use the same recipes and techniques that your parents did? What are your go to cookbooks?

While I was growing up, my father's example of cooking was a very practical one. It was a rare supper that mom did not cook though there were occasions when dad was asked to try his hand at cooking. The result of dad's effort was likely to be a supper that involved milk, bread and all the leftovers thrown into a pot, peppered, then heated through. It wasn't entirely appealing to us kids. Dad called the results of his cooking effort "Graveyard Stew" and that was enough to spook all of us kids out of even trying it.

Dad's "Graveyard Stew" was not completely uninspiring, check out this recipe for leftovers: Throw It In There! Leftover Turkey Risotto

I was intrigued the first time my mother had me spin eggwhites into fluffiness. I learned that there was some magic in cooking! She also encouraged my interest by buying me some cookbooks. Oftentimes she would gift me with utensils and small appliances.

One cook book my mother gave me was James Beard's "Beard on Pasta". It's one of my go to cookbooks and was of help with the following recipe.

Souffle with Pasta and Leeks

Ingredients:

• 5 eggs, yolks and whites separated
• 1/2 cup dry orzo pasta 
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese (sub cheddar cheese if preferred)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
• several dashes of Tobasco sauce
• 1 leek, thinly sliced into rounds (white and pale green parts only) 
• 1 bacon strip
• 1 tablespoon butter

Preparation:

This is a recipe which lends itself to multi-tasking. We need the orzo to cook and that takes about 9 minutes of boiling. We also need the bacon pan fried and this can be done while the pasta is cooking. Once the bacon is cooked to a crisp remove it to drain on a paper towel. Pour off excess bacon fat from the fry pan, but do not wash the pan. Put the sliced leeks into the same fry pan and cook over medium heat until soft, about 11 minutes.  We may need to add a 1/2 tablespoon of butter to the pan to help cook.


We want all of the above preparations to be somewhat cooled after they've cooked. While they're cooling, we'll be working with the eggs and also getting the oven preheated to 375 degrees.


In a large bowl, use an electric hand mixer to spin the eggwhites just beyond creaminess, the mixture should form soft peaks. If, when spinning the eggwhites, there is a presence of any egg yolk, then we will lose our ability to spin them to volume. Hopefully, we've managed to properly separate the yolks from the eggwhites! Once done spinning the eggwhite mixture to soft peaks, leave in bowl and refrigerate.

Now, in a large bowl, we'll use our electric hand mixer to spin the egg yolks until thick and lemon colored. This might take 5 minutes. If we've spun the egg yolks before spinning the eggwhites, then we need to wash the beaters before beginning to spin the eggwhites.

To the spun yolk mixture, stir in all the ingredients except the eggwhite mixture. Lastly, get the spun eggwhites from the refrigerator. Begin to incorporate the spun eggwhites into the yolk mixture in incremental amounts.  Add a large spoonful, mix a bit, then a cup's worth, mix a bit, then everything that's left, mix a bit. Use a rubber spatula when mixing, we want to use a light hand. So, fold up and over and lightly cut through to mix. We've worked hard to get volume and we don't want to repress that with over mixing or heavy mixing.

Pour the egg mixture into a buttered 12X12 cake pan and place into a preheated 375 degree oven. Cook for 20 minutes, slice and serve immediately.

Comments:
I suppose that this recipe might more properly be called a casserole. A typical soufle will be proportioned with nearly twice as many eggwhites as egg yolks. It will also have been cooked in a souffle dish rather than the cake pan which I used. Upon mastering the egg technique, the recipe is flexible for different ingredients. I've made this with mushrooms and was pleased with the result there too. This recipe can do nicely on its own though there is nothing wrong with putting a sauce over the top when serving. Any leftovers will tuck nicely into a corn tortilla the next morning.

For another recipe on this blog where the book, Beard on Pasta, was helpful, check out Fish & Pasta Deluxe Dinner