This was my other entry for the past IMBB - souffle edition, but it didn't make it because....well....it really was a failure. Yes, it looks good, doesn't it? Rose very high and got a crusty top and all that, but strangely it was WAAAAAY salty!
I'm really not sure what happened. I used the Pea Souffle recipe from Nigella's "How To Eat", which is basically just a cheese souffle, but with a cooked pea puree mixed with the cheese (Gruyere - and I even spent $$$ getting the real stuff from Switzerland!). The recipe suggested to 'season well' because the egg whites would dampen the intensity. So, I seasoned well, and the base mixture was a little salty, but definitely not too much. I added a small pinch of salt to the egg whites, before whisking, but again the sum total of salt flavour wasn't overpowering.
So, whatever happened in the oven is a chemical mystery. Somehow my souffle turned from food into a damn good replica of Lot's Wife. The taste of the fresh grated nutmeg also intensified into something too much and too powerful. Very weird.
We still ate it, though. Armed with tall glasses of water and, in my case, thick blobs of hot mustard over the top. And I'm somebody who loves salt; seasons things that don't need to be seasoned, and craves salt rather than sugar most of the time. Not as bad as my grandmother who automatically shakes salt over her pizza (!!), but still a definite salt tooth.
Not even that could redeem this. But, hey, it looks pretty doesn't it? Nice green colour...!
Tagged with: IMBB # 20 + Souffle
I love the color, Niki. That very strange about the salt, too. Most of the time cooking does seem to dampen salty flavor.
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