We had a little break from the Christmas rush on boxing day and we made our pilgrimage to Niagara-on-the-Lake. We love to stay at Harbour House because the rooms are nice, the people are wonderful and they have a few perks that we like to take advantage of: a lovely breakfast spread in the morning room, wine and cheese in the lobby between 4-5 every night, free shuttle service to any restaurant within NOTL! During our last night, we dined at The Cannery and I noticed they had a twice-baked soufflé on the menu so I immediately amended our NYE menu to include a twice-baked soufflé.
We had some friends over for New Year’s Eve and I decided to make a tapas evening. We had six courses but were too full so we only had five of them. I spread the evening out as much as possible so we ate from 7:30-10:30. The courses were:
- Zucchini Fritters with Sriracha Aioli
- Twice Baked Mushroom Soufflé
- Coconut Shrimp with Sweet and Sour Dipping Sauce
- Crab Gyoza with Ginger Soy Dipping Sauce
- Mussels in a White Wine Broth and Baguette
- Cheese Course (this is the one we saved for the following day).
It was a nice way to spend the evening, just noshing and chatting away. We hadn’t seen these friends since mid-November so we had a lot to catch up on. But there wasn’t a lot of talking during this course. Just eating!
Twice Baked Mushroom Soufflé
Original recipe by Lorraine Elliot of Not Quite Nigella.
Makes about 500 mL (~15 oz)
Ingredients:
- 15 g butter, plus additional for buttering ramekins
- 15 g plain all purpose flour
- 80 g shiitake mushrooms, sliced medium thickly
- 40 g chestnuts, roasted and roughly chopped
- 10 mL roasted garlic purée
- 125 mL milk, heated
- 1 egg, separated
- 40 g goats cheese, crumbled
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 350° F (180° C).
- Butter the ramekins well, all the way up the sides. Boil some water.
- Dry roast the mushroom slices in a non-stick pan so that they colour a little on both sides and much of their moisture has evaporated. Set aside.
- Melt the remaining butter in the pan and add the flour all at once. Cook the flour for a minute without burning it. Add the milk and whisk until smooth, it will be very thick.
- Chop the slightly cooled mushrooms and add them with the roasted, chopped chestnuts and roasted garlic purée to the roux and whisk well.
- Add the egg yolk and stir well to combine. Set aside to cool.
- Meanwhile, beat the egg white until stiff but not dry. Take about 1/4 of the beaten egg whites and stir it into the roux mixture to loosen. Fold in the remaining egg whites until well incorporated but not deflated.
- Divide the mixture into the prepared ramekins and bake in a bain-marie (this is why you were boiling the water) for 35-40 minutes or until tops are lightly golden (remember, they will be baked again).
- Allow to cool in the ramekins for about 5 minutes (they will deflate a bit), then gently loosen sides with a sharp knife and turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool until room temperature.
- Use immediately or store in the refrigerator until needed. If you are not going to use it for a few days, wrap each soufflé individually in plastic wrap and then bag in a large ziplock freezer bag. Freeze until required.
- To defrost, remove from the freezer the night before it is required and defrost in the refrigerator. The microwave is not suitable for this step.
- Lay the soufflés into individual ovenproof dishes and prepare the béchamel finishing sauce.
Ingredients for Béchamel Finishing Sauce:
- 5 g unsalted butter
- 15 g all-purpose flour
- 250 mL milk
- Pinch of thyme leaves
- pinch of nutmeg
- season to taste.
Directions for Béchamel Finishing Sauce:
- Melt butter in a small saucepan, add the flour and cook the roux without burning for about 1 minute.
- Slowly add the milk while whisking to create a smooth sauce, cook until thickened.
- Flavour with the thyme leaves and nutmeg.
- Pour over the defrosted soufflés in an oven-proof bakeware and bake about 25 minutes in a preheated 350° F (180° C), to heat it through.