Soufflé does not have to be sweet. This cheese, bacon and arugula soufflé is a savory one from David Lebovitz’s My Paris Kitchen. The key ingredients are cheese, bacon and arugula. The cheeses I used were Parmesan and Gruyère, each adding a complex salty and creamy notes to the soufflé. The preparation is a two-step baking in the oven.
I took a different tack as the baking goes. Since I have a convection steam oven, I’m eager to explore its many capabilities other than just the straight-forward steaming feature. Instead of baking the soufflé in a water bath at 400°F as outlined in the recipe, I turned up the humidity dial in the combi-steam oven to 60%. (Next time, I’ll set the temperature lower at 375°F.) I have used an equivalent humidity setting successfully for crème brûlée which also utilizes the water bath (or bain-marie) to ensure even cooking.
I took pictures after the initial bake, then before and after the second bake at 425°F. The cheese, bacon and arugula soufflé after the initial bake was taller than what came out after the second bake. The second bake produces something more like a cake (think crab cake) with a crispy crust that you can eat from your fingers. The soufflé I’ve had in restaurants are mostly cooked to order and served immediately. Remember how they warn diners that you’d have to wait for the soufflé to be ready, and not the other way around.
These soufflés are airier and have greater volume after the initial bake.
Soufflé prior to the second bake. They’ve shrunk!
That leads me to question: why the second bake? In a professional kitchen, a lot of dishes are prepared ahead of time and reheated prior to serving. It’s a timing and procedural issue in view of the constraints in a restaurant kitchen. Wonder about other reasons and effects of the second bake in this recipe in a home setting. Is it necessary? Can’t tell which one I like better since I’ve only tasted the ones after the final bake.
I want to see the soufflé our friends at Cook-the-book-Fridays have turned out. Here is the link. They may be different due to the bake setting and the oven. Or maybe not!
Cheese, Bacon and Arugula Soufflé
Ingredients
- one slice or 75g diced thick-cut smoked bacon
- 4 oz / 125g arugula, baby spinach or watercress
- sea salt or kosher salt (they may not need it)
- 1.5 oz / 45g freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/2 cup / 125ml whole or low-fat milk
- 1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 1/2 tablespoons / 9g all-purpose flour
- 2 1/4 oz / 63g grated Comté or Gruyère cheese or sharp Cheddar
- 2 large egg yolks
- a pinch of cayenne pepper
- 7g minced fresh chive
- 75g egg whites, at room temperature
- freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
Render the bacon in a wide saucepan until crisp. Set aside to dry on a paper towel. Coarsely chop the bacon.
Cook arugula (add salt if you need it) over medium heat, using some of the bacon drippings in the saucepan, covered, until completely wilted. Remove from heat. Squeeze hard to get all the water out. Finely chop the arugula.
Preheat the oven to 400°F and 375°F for the combi steam oven.
Butter 4 4-oz (125 ml) soufflé molds. Coat each mold with some Parmesan cheese. (If using a conventional oven, set the molds in a deep-sided baking dish.) Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set it aside.
Heat milk in a pyrex cup in the microwave until warm. Set aside.
Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly with a whisk, until the mixture is smooth. Add the warm milk gradually, whisking to smooth out the lumps. Cook until the sauce is smooth.
Remove the milk mixture from the heat. Add Parmesan (reserve some for sprinkling over the soufflé before baking). Add half of the Comté. Quickly stir in the egg yolks, the remaining Comté, cayenne pepper and chives. Stir in the chopped arugula and bacon.
Whip the egg whites to stiff peaks in the bowl of a mixer.
Fold in one-quarter of the egg whites into the soufflé base, then fold in the remaining egg whites, until just a few streaks of whites are visible. Be sure not to over-mix.
Divide the soufflé mixture among the prepared soufflé molds. Sprinkle the tops with the remaining Parmesan.
Bake the soufflé in the 375°F convection steam oven with 60% humidity for 20-25 minutes. (In a conventional oven, add hot water to the baking pan to reach halfway up the sides of the molds.) Bake until the soufflé is soft and jiggly in the center.
Remove the molds from the oven or the water bath and cool on a wire rack.
Once cool enough to handle, run a knife around each soufflé to loosen it. Tip each soufflé in your hand, place them on the prepared baking sheet, right side up.
Right before serving, rebake the soufflé in a 425°F oven for 10 minutes, or until all-over golden brown and crusty. They will puff back up slightly. Sprinkle with pepper and serve.
Notes
Adapted for a convection steam oven from My Paris Kitchen by David Lebovitz
9 Comments
Katie from ProfWhoCooks
May 19, 2018 at 10:26 amVery cool using the steam convection oven! My dad really wanted one of those for bread making, I think. Glad they worked out well and I wonder, too, about the second bake. In any case, it made these little guys really versatile and I”m glad to have this available for make-ahead purposes!
Shirley@EverOpenSauce
May 19, 2018 at 4:00 pmMake-ahead is appealing. These soufflé are also great for picnics.
Chez Nana
May 19, 2018 at 10:52 amThese were really tasty. Yours look so good in both photos, but the first photo is so perfect before it fell.
Shirley@EverOpenSauce
May 19, 2018 at 4:01 pmI wish I have taken a bite of those puffy soufflé.
James
May 19, 2018 at 11:00 amThis is such a great combination of savory flavors. Looks delicious
Shirley@EverOpenSauce
May 19, 2018 at 4:03 pmCheese, bacon and green of any kinds are great combinations.
Mardi (eat. live. travel. write.)
May 19, 2018 at 1:07 pmInterestingly, I think of soufflés as primarily savoury. Re: the second bake, this is a different type of soufflé than one of those sky-high ones and I think the baking twice is really just so you can make in advance?
Shirley@EverOpenSauce
May 19, 2018 at 4:05 pmThese soufflé are more like frittata in many ways.
Emily
May 21, 2018 at 6:09 amLove the height of your souffles from the first bake. There was a wee bit stuck to my sole ramekin, and it tasted great. My second bake gave the naked side some color.