Dinner Club - Rendang

Jennie gave me access to post our Dinner Club meals here a long time ago, but I just remembered about it. Luckily, we just had a Dinner Club, so here's my first posting. This is not an Everday Good Eat - Dinner Club meals are usually time-consuming and labor intensive, which is why we team up for cooking. But they are always delicious and fun, and ususally from a particular country or region of the world! Karen and I decided to try to make Rendang, a Singaporean coconut beef stew. Spicy, too!

We tripled the recipe below, which fed 11 with leftovers (we were told this tastes better the next day or the next week, even!). I'll write the recipe as it is in my friend, Weelit's, recipe book and put our substitutions next to it.

570 g (20 oz.) coconut, white WE USED FROZEN, SHREDDED

605 g (21 oz.) beef brisket or topside WE USED TOP ROUND

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp msg WE DIDN'T USE THIS;INSTEAD ADDED EXTRA TAMARIND PASTE

2 tsp sugar

1 1/2 tsp tamarind, remove seeds WE USED PASTE

10 shallots UH, REALLY? WE USED 3 LARGE ONES

6 fresh red chillies WE COULD ONLY FIND THAI CHILLIES

14 dried chillies WE GOT SCARED, SO ONLY USED ABOUT 5, AND SHOOK OUT ANY LOOSE SEEDS

30 g (1 oz) ginger

1 stalk lemon grass

2 thin slices galangal

2 cloves garlic

2 tblsp fried coconut

1-1 1/2 tsp palm sugar WE JUST USED REGULAR SUGAR

1 level tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp msg YOU CAN ADD A BIT EXTRA SALT IF DESIRED

2 tsp dark soya sauce WE ASSUMED THIS WAS SOY SAUCE

2 tblsp oil WE NEVER USED THIS...I WONDER WHERE IT'S SUPPOSED TO GO?

170-225 ml (6-8 fl oz.) boiling water

THE RECIPE CALLS FOR FRESH COCONUT AND GETTING THE MILK FROM THE MEAT, BUT WE JUST BOUGHT 2 CANS OF COCONUT MILK.

Dry-fry 115 g of the cocnut till dark brown. Cool. (You'll need an extra 2 tblsp later. We forgot it and just added it fresh. I think it was ok).

Season beef with first 4 ingredients and coconut and leave for 2 hours.

Grind the third set of ingredients (from shallots to 2 tblsp coconut) to a fine paste. A food processor is VERY useful at this point. I have no idea how else it could have ever been done!

Squeeze remaining coconut for milk and set aside. Set aside. Add 225 ml water and squeeze for more milk. Set aside. (WE TOTALLY SKIPPED THIS)

Combine the rest of the ingredients, except the oil and water, in a large saucepan. Add watery milk and bring to a boil. Add meat and boil, uncovered, over moderately high heat for 1 hour, stirring occasionally to prevent burning.

Add coconut milk and stir well. Reduce heat, cover pan and cook for 3/4 - 1 hour til gravy mixture turns oily and fragrant.

WE ADDED THE MILK ALL AT ONCE, AND IT WAS THICK, NOT WATERY. IF WE DID IT AGAIN, I'D ADD ONE CAN THICK MILK AND ONE CAN COCONUT WATER, LATER.

We also didn't add all of the paste mixture, because we were afraid it would be too spicy. But we kept it and think it will make a great starter for a chicken dish or something. Smells sooo good!

Dinner was the Rendang served over rice, a jicama and papaya salad and broiled gailan (chinese broccoli) with oyster sauce. If you're looking for a challenge, this one was delicious!

Cannelloni with Crepes

Many are familiar with cannelloni being made using pasta but there is a whole contingent that feel superb cannelloni is made with crepes. I like both ways but the crepe seems to deliver a more delicate dish. If you are making this for a party, I strongly suggest doing it at least a day ahead and even in stages. There are a whole lot of parts to make but taking the time makes for an amazing presentation and truly satisfying meal.

Crepe batter is best when it is given the good part of the day to sit; the flour has more time to absorb the liquid. Using a large blender (or split the recipe and do it in batches): measure 2 cup of milk, 2/3 cup of water into it then add four large eggs, 2 cup of all-purpose flour, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 4 tablespoons of melted butter. Once all the ingredients are in the blender, I put the lid on the jar, put it on the base and blend until smooth for about 5 seconds. I put the blender jar directly in the refrigerator and leave it there until I am ready to cook the crepes. (At the very least the batter should sit for an hour; two is preferable. It can last for up to 24 hours.)

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MAKING CREPES
Ideally, you do need a crepe pan since you can more easily judge the size and thinness of the crepe with it. I try to avoid buying kitchen gear that serves only one purpose but in this case I find it necessary. To set yourself up, have a cooling rack (such as you would use for cookies) handy in which to place the crepes once cooked.

You want to have your pan on a burner set to medium-high heat. You will need a paper towel lightly coated with butter (you can use any type of oil but butter is preferable to achieve the right browning); you will brush this lightly over the surface of the pan so that the metal is shiny but you don't want any sizzling butter or oil. Pick the pan up off of the burner and pour 2-3 tablespoons of batter for a (6 or 7 inch pan; 1/4 cup for a 9 or 10 inch pan) on the pan while tilting and rotating to spread the batter to the edges of the pan - coating the pan's surface.

Cook until almost dry on top and lightly browned on the edges; about a minute. Loosen the edges of the crepe from the pan with a spatula and then flip the crepe over and cook for another 15 seconds or so. Turn the crepe onto the cooling rack and continue the process until all the batter is used; continue stacking the crepes. This recipe should make about 16 or 20-6 inch crepes.

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MAKING THE MEAT SAUCE
Heat a 1/4 cup of olive oil in a saucepan and add 2 tablespoons of finely chopped onion. Saute until golden; add 12 ounces of lean ground beef and turn the burner down to medium low. Cook the meat without browning. Crumble the meat as it cooks using a fork. When it loses its red raw color, cook it for one more minute without letting it brown. Add 2 teaspoon of salt and 1 cup of chopped canned tomatoes with their juice. Cook at the barest simmer for 45 minutes.

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MAKING THE FILLING
Heat a 1/4 cup of olive oil in a saucepan and add 3 tablespoons of finely chopped onion. Saute until golden; add 12 ounces of lean ground beef and turn the burner down to medium low. Cook the meat as you did above - without browning. Transfer the meat to a fine mesh colander and let the fat drain away.

When it is drained, place in a medium-sized bowl and add the following ingredients:

• 3 teaspoons of salt
• 1 cup of mortadella (Italian bologna) or unsmoked ham
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 3 cups Parmesan cheese
• 2 1/2 cups of ricotta cheese

Mix all the ingredients thoroughly, taste and correct salt if necessary. Set aside for when it comes time to assemble.

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MAKING THE BECHAMEL SAUCE

Heat 4 cups of milk until it comes to the edge of a boil. Meanwhile, in a large enameled saucepan, heat a stick of butter (8 tablespoons). When the butter is melted add 6 tablespoons of flour and stir constantly. Let the flour and butter bubble for 2 minutes but do not let it color/brown.

Turn off the burner and remove the skin from the top of the hot milk. Using a whisk or wooden spoon stir the flour mixture constantly while adding 2 tablespoons of milk at a time. Before adding more milk, make sure that what you added is incorporated into the mixture. After you have done this four times (added the equivalent of 1/2 cup of milk) you can start adding 1/4 cup of milk at a time.

When all the milk has been incorporated, turn the burner on again to low, add 1/2 teaspoon of salt and, while stirring constantly, cook until the sauce is as dense as thick cream.

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ASSEMBLY & COOKING
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Take a bake and serve pan 9x14 inches and butter the bottom.

Take a crepe and place about 2-3 tablespoons of filling down the middle then roll into a "flute." Place this into the prepared pan and repeat the process until you have filled all the crepes and/or finished the batter. Squeeze the cannelloni in tightly but do not stack.

Spread the meat sauce over the cannelloni, coating evenly. Spread the bechamel sauce over this. Sprinkle with 2/3 cups of Parmesan cheese and dot with about 1/4 cup of butter. Bake on the next highest rack in the oven for approximately 15 minutes, or until a light brown crust forms on the top. (Do not cook more than 20 minutes regardless.)

Allow to settle for 10 to 15 minutes before serving. The cannelloni is a very rich dish so goes well with a nice green salad or bruschetta mix (without the bread).

Chicken Enchiladas and Fried Plantains

It has been a lazy week in terms of cooking. I have taken a break from food blogging for two reasons; I have been experiencing Food Blahs and I have been practicing my photography. Food Blahs are a periodic episode where food really doesn't interest me and cooking happens out of necessity more than pleasure. This is one reason I freeze extra leftovers - perfect backup for when you don't want to cook. As for the photography, I received constructive criticism from several sources about my images. To address that, I have been playing around with a fancy camera I own but never really use. It won't happen right away but hopefully you will start noticing an improvement to the images I post of the meals.

As for the Food Blahs, three very black plantains wake my palate again and chase them away. As I test the plantains for ripeness and find them to be perfect, I start thinking about what I can make to go with them. When you buy plantains you want them to be almost black and soft that way when you fry them they will have a nice, sweet flavor which complements spicy food very nicely. Under ripe plantains are practically inedible (think cardboard diskettes) so don't force this part of the recipe if you cannot find them.

Enchiladas can be a good quick meal because it is easy enough to poach chicken breasts (even if they are frozen). Better yet you can purchase a roasted chicken and shred some of it for enchiladas - which is the scenario I am using today. I have a whole roasted chicken and I shred the meat from a thigh and a breast into bite-sized morsels and set aside.

I read a nifty tip to soften the tortillas in my latest issue of Cook's Illustrated. You coat them with cooking spray and heat them in the oven. Since this is something I want to do right before I am ready to assemble, I merely turn the oven to 325 so that it will be warm enough when it comes time to pop them in. I will go into more detail about the process of warming a few steps later.

Meanwhile I decide to use a tomato-based sauce for the enchiladas. I roast three, medium-sized tomatoes on my comal until the skins start to blister. I keep moving the tomatoes around the comal until they are as evenly browned as I can manage and soft enough to remove the skins. I carefully cut away the core (where the vine stem attaches), place the tomatoes in my blender and puree them. I add this sauce to about half a cup of mole poblano and 1/4 cup of chicken stock. [If I was out of mole poblano I would use dried chiles like the California/Anaheim and cloves of garlic. I would soak about 4 dried chiles - after I have destemmed and deseeded them - in a bit of warm chicken broth. I would roast 2-3 cloves of garlic on the comal with the tomatoes. Then I would put everything in the blender; roasted tomatoes, garlic, chiles and chicken broth and puree it all together.] Reserve 1/4 -1/2 cup for garnishing.

Since I have shredded the chicken and set up the sauce, it is time to warm the tortillas for assembly. I spray 15 corn tortillas on both sides with cooking spray (I am using Canola spray), and lay them out in a single layer on two cookie sheets. I put the sheets in my pre-heated oven and let them warm for about 3 minutes. As they are warming, I take a 9x13 inch baking dish, oil it and coat the bottom of the baking dish with a bit of sauce.

When the tortillas are warm, I remove the sheets from the pan and carefully remove a tortilla, place it on top of the sauce from the baking dish, add a bit of chicken, wrap the tortilla around it and place the enchilada with the seam underneath. Repeat this process until all the enchiladas are rolled and placed in the baking dish. Pour the remaining sauce over the enchiladas in the baking dish and cover everything with shredded cheese; 1 to 1 1/2 cups of shredded mozzarella or monterey jack cheese. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and place in a 450 degree oven for 20 minutes.

While the enchiladas are heating up, I cook the plantains. I remove the peel from each plantain by making a shallow slice through the skin down the length of each. Then I pull back the peel, remove the tips of each and slice a bit at an angle. Next, I heat about 1/3 cup of canola oil (or any neutral flavored oil) in a large skillet and gently fry the plantains in batches. You want them to be nicely browned on both sides. As each batch is ready to be removed from the oil, I carefully scoop them out with a slotted spatula, drain the oil a bit, and place on a paper towel, covered plate. When they are all cooked I set them aside someplace warm (although I don't mind if they get to room temperature).

Finally, I set up all the fixings. I love topping these with a crisp, shredded iceberg lettuce but I don't typically buy it unless I am making these for a big party. As an alternate, I slice up three scallions (want mostly just the green tops but I decide not to waste any and use them all); 1/3 cup of cilantro leaves (you could chop if you feel up for it); and slice 1/2 an avocado. I place all these fixings (as well as the reserved enchilada sauce in a small pitcher) on the table so everyone can garnish their own enchiladas. When the enchiladas are done, I serve one to three per person and add some plantains to the side.

Sopa de Tortilla

My favorite Mexican cookbook is Authentic Mexican by Rick Bayless. My mother gave Luis and I a copy for Christmas in 1998 and it has become a staple cookbook for me ever since. His cooking shows are really fun to watch as well. In February 2007, I had the opportunity to host a work function in Chicago and jumped at the chance to book his restaurant Topolobampo. For the event we chose the Chef's Tasting menu and one of the items served was the Sopa de Tortilla; I have been craving it ever since. I just want to book a trip back to Chicago so I can eat there again. (Also most amazing margarita I have ever had...yum.)

Since this is a very brothy soup, it is recommended to have a really good broth. Fortunately, my mother insisted I save the bones from the last time I stripped a Costco roast chicken. Her winning argument was that they would make a wonderful broth and she was very right. I took the bones of one chicken carcass and put it in a pot with half an onion, with the root end still attached and 2-3 celery stalks, roughly chopped. I filled the pot with water until it covered everything, loosely covered the pot and let simmer for two hours.

Next I took about eight corn tortillas that I had in the fridge and sliced them first in half and then into thin strips. It is best if you use stale/older tortillas for this as they crisp better when you fry them. Heat 1/3 cup of vegetable oil in a skillet. Set up a cookie sheet with paper towels to have for the cooked tortilla strips. (You don't want to be doing this after the strips are ready to come out because you risk burning them.) I test to make sure the oil is the right temperature by throwing in a small corner of one of the strips - if the oil bubbles vigorously around it then it is the perfect temperature. I then throw in the cut up strips and move them around the pan to keep them separated. I keep an eye on them and continuously move them around until they start turning a deep golden brown. Then I immediately remove them with a slotted spoon and let them cool on the paper towels.

Take 1-2 dried chile pasillas and remove the stems and seeds. Then tear into smaller pieces and soak in a bit of broth. (In this case I actually only had a bag of dried Catarina chiles. the description says they are pungent and have tones of wild berry and tobacco. They are red and will add a complexity of flavor so they fit my bill.) Next, I take out my comal and set it on a high burner. When the comal is hot, I place one medium-small tomato on it and roast it on every side. (Alternately, you can drop it into boiling water for a few minutes.) When the skin is blistered, you will remove it from the comal (or water) and cut the tomato into quarters. Finally remove the seeds and core and throw the tomato into the blender. Next slice one medium onion and rough chop two cloves of garlic. Heat one tablespoon of oil or lard over medium high heat and cook the onion and garlic until both are deep golden brown. Add the cooked onion and garlic and softened chiles with the liquid to the blender with the tomato and process until smooth.

Now after two hours your broth should be pretty flavorful (since the bones were from a roasted chicken you could have probably gotten away with just an hour of boiling). Turn the burner off and using a slotted spoon gently remove the bones, onion and celery. You could also pour this through a strainer into another pan but I try to minimize dirty dishes. Now heat another tablespoon of oil or lard in your skillet and carefully pour the tomato mixture in the pan and constantly stir until the mixture is thicker and darker - about 5 minutes. Add the this mixture to the broth, partially cover and simmer for 30 minutes.

Now set up your bowls with a bit of the crisp tortillas and some cubed or grated cheese (for 6 servings you will need about 2 cups of queso fresco or some sort of soft cheese; Muenster or Monterey Jack.) Right before you are ready to eat, you will ladle some broth directly over these ingredients and serve immediately.

It isn't the simplest soup to make but it sure is memorable. Luis returned from his bicycle ride the following day - he said he had spent much of his return trip just thinking how good a bowl of the soup would be when he got home. Unfortunately it wasn't on the brunch menu!

Dinner Crepes

Crepes are an ideal meal to make in stages; you can start the batter in the morning then cook the crepes when you are ready to make dinner. Alternately, you can cook and freeze crepes for later use; they defrost quickly in room temperate. I have a tendency to make crepes when I have other things going on - in this case I am also making our bi-weekly batch of cat food - so they seem to be very tedious. I have decided that I am overwhelming myself by trying to multitask rather than focusing on the crepes.

Anyway, these crepes were delicious and it was such a large batch that the effort will save me from one night of meal planning. If you are making these for a dinner party, it really is ideal because you can make ahead of time and simply warm up in the oven when the time is right. Alternately, you could even freeze half the batch and stick away for some night when you want a quick meal, home-cooked meal.

Crepe batter is best when it is given the good part of the day to sit; the flour has more time to absorb the liquid. In the morning, I decide that crepes will be good for dinner and make the batter right after breakfast. I take my blender and measure 1 cup of milk, 1/3 cup of water into it then I add two large eggs, 1 cup of all-purpose flour, 1/4 teaspoon of salt and 2 tablespoons of melted butter. Once all the ingredients are in the blender, I put the lid on the jar, put it on the base and blend until smooth for about 5 seconds. I put the blender jar directly in the refrigerator and leave it there until I am ready to cook later tonight. (At the very least the batter should sit for an hour; two is preferable. It can last for up to 24 hours.)

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MAKING CREPES

Ideally, you do need a crepe pan since you can more easily judge the size and thinness of the crepe with it. I try to avoid buying kitchen gear that serves only one purpose but in this case I find it necessary. Although to make myself feel better I sometimes use it to make pancakes too. I find making the crepes themselves to be the fun part and they bring back memories of my high school French class when we made them for a fundraiser. My teacher brought in her electric crepe maker and showed us how to make them.

To set yourself up, have a plate handy in which to place the crepes once cooked. You want to have your pan on a burner set to medium-high heat. You will need a paper towel lightly coated with butter (you can use any type of oil but butter is preferable to achieve the right browning); you will brush this lightly over the surface of the pan so that the metal is shiny but you don't want any sizzling butter or oil. Pick the pan up off of the burner and pour 2-3 tablespoons of batter for a (6 or 7 inch pan; 1/4 cup for a 9 or 10 inch pan) on the pan while tilting and rotating to spread the batter to the edges of the pan- coating the pan's surface.

Cook until almost dry on top and lightly browned on the edges; about a minute. Loosen the edges of the crepe from the pan with a metal spatula and then flip the crepe over and cook for another 15 seconds or so. Turn the crepe onto the clean plate and continue the process until all the batter is used; continue stacking the crepes.

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CREPE FILLING

I used a filling from this cookbook called Crepes; Sweet and Savory Recipes for the Home Cook. The filling is chicken, sweet corn and red pepper - I have almost all the ingredients except fresh ginger, fresh corn on the cob and Monterey jack cheese but I decided to try it out. I have frozen, sweet corn and a four cheese blend of shredded cheese from my lasagna last week; close enough.

I start by poaching 3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts in about an inch of water with half of an onion and some salt. I simmer this over low heat for about 10-15 minutes. I then remove the chicken and let cool so that I can dice it a bit later. I also place 1 1/2 to 2 cups of frozen corn in enough water to cover it, bring it to a boil and then drain.

Simultaneously, as the chicken and corn are cooking I start assembling the rest of the filling. I dice half of a red pepper (about 1/2 cup) and one green onion (an alternate ingredient is to use a shallot). In a small skillet, I add a scant 1 tablespoon of olive oil, heat it over medium heat and saute the pepper and green onion for about 2-3 minutes.

In a medium-sized bowl, I mix 1 large egg, 3/4 cup of ricotta cheese, 1/2 cup shredded cheese, 2 minced garlic cloves, and 1/2 teaspoon of dried sage. I will add the diced chicken, corn, peppers and green onions to this mixture and blend it all. Finally, I will add salt and pepper to taste. (I tend to under salt when I cook because I prefer salty foods and don't want to go overboard.)

I preheat my oven to 350 degrees and prep a 10 x 13 baking dish by spraying it with a bit of olive oil spray. Then I assemble the crepes; I put in one to two heaping tablespoons of filling for each crepe and fold it like an envelope to completely enclose the filling. I arrange them in the baking dish as I go, spray the whole thing with a bit more olive oil spray, sprinkle the whole pan with 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese, and place in the oven for 10-15 minutes or until heated through. I simply served these crepes with no side dish - a bit of salad would be a nice accompaniment.

Cornmeal Crusted Pork and Quinoa

My mother showed me an Asian market on Irving Street between 25th and 26th Avenues - Sunset Super - that has a butcher and seafood counter. I am excited because it is a few blocks down from my favorite produce market - 22nd & Irving - so that means I can now park once (if I happen to drive over) and get more ingredients within walking distance.

They have some very nice looking meat and seafood including sukiyaki cuts of meat. (Sukiyaki is a japanese one pot meal. Since all the ingredients are typically cooked and assembled at the table, the meat is sliced paper thin for quick cooking.) I purchased several items; one of which was a package of sukiyaki pork.

We had some friends over for dinner on last week so I decided to use the pork and serve it with oven-roasted cauliflower and quinoa. I also decided to serve the quick vegetable soup as a starter since I had frozen some of my most recent batch. Since the cauliflower will take almost 40 minutes, I set that up and start pre-heating the oven. Additionally, I drop my frozen soup into a pot with about an inch of water on the bottom and set it on my burner with the lowest BTU at low. This will defrost the soup and allow me to ignore it while I am cooking.

Next, using I decide to dip the pork in egg and coat with a cornmeal mixture. Since the pork is so thin it will be almost the last thing I cook, however I want to coat it now and give it some time to dry so that the crust will be crisper. (Another method is to do a three part process; coat in flour, dip in egg and then coat in breadcrumbs or corn meal. This method is very effective but I always mess myself up by rinsing my meat and putting it right into my egg wash. At the same time, you save a step which isn't bad either.)

For my egg coating, I use the two egg yolks left over from my souffle and one whole egg all whisked together with a bit of water (otherwise I would use two whole eggs and some milk). For the cornmeal coating, I put 1 cup of cornmeal in a pie plate and add approximately a teaspoon each of salt, pepper and thyme as well as 2 tablespoons of grated parmesan cheese. I set up a couple of cutting boards to place the coated pork to dry; carefully remove a piece of pork from the egg coating; and lie it on top of the cornmeal coating and gently cover the meat. I flip the pork piece around, pressing into the coating to make sure it is fully covered and set the coated piece onto the waiting cutting board. I continue this process until all the meat it set aside and ready to cook. (If you start to run out of the cornmeal coating, it should be sufficient to simply add a bit more cornmeal - if you gauge it right you shouldn't have to add more seasoning.)

The cauliflower has been cooking and it is time for me to turn it for the final 10 minutes. I start the quinoa; I put 1 cup of quinoa in 2 cups of chicken broth in a medium saucepan. As it begins to boil, I add 1/2 cup of frozen peas, cover the pot and let cook for 10 minutes. When done, the grain appears soft and fluffy; the germ ring will be visible around the outside of the grain.

Finally, I take a bit of butter and lemon-infused olive oil and heat it in a large skillet over medium-high heat. I gently brown each peice of cornmeal coated pork for about 2 minutes per side. I remove the cooked pieces to a warm plate and continue cooking until they are all done. This recipe made a lot of leftovers - even serving to four people we will have enough for dinner another night this week. Just by making different side dishes it will be like a whole new meal...

Goat Cheese Souffle & Tomato Soup

Souffle is really my idea of a glorified omelet. It takes a few extra steps but it is really worth the effort for a simple tasty meal. I found a recipe online for this souffle a few weeks ago and decided to finally try it on Saturday night.

What appealed to me about the recipe is that I almost always have broccoli and goat cheese handy. I set my oven to 375 degrees and prepared my souffle dish. The recipe called for just coating it with a cooking spray but I have had more success in the past with oiling and flouring the dish. You just put a scant tablespoon of oil or butter in the dish and use a paper towel to coat the pan - taking care to get the corners. Then take a bit of flour (about 2 tablespoons) and carefully move the dish around to get the flour to coat all the surfaces; gently tap out any excess. Set this aside so it is ready to be filled with the batter and placed in the oven.

Next I washed and set up my broccoli (approximately 1 1/2 cups) to steam. I didn't chop it just yet as I want my florets to stay intact while they steam. I will chop them just before I add them to the batter. (The recipe calls for you to steam the broccoli in the microwave the only reason that I don't do this is personal preference. I almost never use my microwave except to melt butter and heat up leftovers.)

Next I set up my ingredients for the cheese sauce base. It is a good idea to have everything measured and set up since a cheese sauce requires immediate action on each step. My biggest problem with putting together a cheese sauce is that it almost never fails that Luis wants my attention suddenly when I am cooking one. I hate telling someone to hold that thought but dinner is at stake so sometimes you just have to. I add 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil to my saucepan. Then I measure out 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour; 1 1/4 cup of milk (I use skim milk because that is the only kind that I buy); and in a third small dish I measure out 1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, 1/4 teaspoon rosemary (in this case I used fresh rosemary so about 1/2 tsp).

Before I start the sauce, I carefully crumble my 1/2 cup of goat cheese (you can substitute any type of cheese but goat cheese and rosemary compliment each other well). I also set up my eggs; I take five large eggs and carefully separate the yolks and egg whites. I will need all five of the egg whites but only three of the yolks for this recipe. (I put the two extra yolks in the fridge in case I find some use for them in the next day or so.)

Finally, with everything set up, I am ready to get the show started. My final check is to determine when our dinner guest is arriving because souffle needs to be served immediately. It is one of those dishes that looks amazing coming out of the oven and then quickly deflates. I turn the burner under the butter and oil to medium-high heat. When it starts to sizzle, I add the flour and quickly whisk it in for about a minute. I don't want it to get too dark but I do want it to lightly brown. Then I add the milk and whisk it quickly to prevent lumps and finally add the mustard, salt and rosemary. I let this cook - whisking constantly - until the sauce begins to thicken. The consistency should be somewhat creamy - the idea being if you were to pour this over pasta it would coat the pasta nicely; it would be neither watery nor gloppy.

Turn off the burner and remove the pan from the stove top. Immediately add the goat cheese and three eggs yolks and whisk them in until the cheese is melted. Transfer this mixture to a large bowl as you will be adding the eggs whites in the final step.

Now your egg whites should be started with an electric hand mixer; set the mixer in the bowl and turn on the high. Whisk the eggs whites until they start to form soft peaks. Turn off the mixer and add a 1/4 teaspoon of cream of tartar. (Cream of Tartar is optional but it helps give your whites a bit of an advantage; it helps stabilize the egg whites and give a bit more volume when whisking them.) Now continue whisking the whites until the peaks of egg whites are very stiff. Using a spatula, gently add about half the whites to the cheese sauce and fold in. Next add the broccoli and the remaining egg whites and continue folding in the mixture until there are no more foamy white streaks. Pour this mixture into the prepared souffle dish and put it into the pre-heated oven. Cook for about 30 minutes (if using individual ramekins cook for about 20 minutes). When cooked it should looked very puffed and have a nicely browned crown. Serve immediately.

Now that the souffle is cooking, I am going to start on the soup. I am making a simple, tomato puree soup. I get the following ingredients handy: one tablespoon of butter; 1/4 cup diced onion; 1/4 cup diced celery (optional if you simply don't have it but can be missed); one tablespoon of all-purpose flour; 2 cups of beef broth; 2 cans of chopped tomatoes (with juice); 1 teaspoon of sugar; 1-2 teaspoons of dried basil (double if using fresh); and salt and pepper to taste. In a pot, I heat the butter over medium-high heat and when it starts sizzling I add the onion and celery to saute them. When the onion starts to get translucent, I add the flour and stir to coat the cooked onion and celery. Then I add the beef broth and stir it all quickly to prevent lumps of flour from forming. Then I add the tomatoes, basil, sugar and salt and pepper. I cook for at least 20 minutes; remove it from the stove and puree it using an inverted hand mixer. If you have croutons, you can float a few in the soup when serving to add a bit of crunch.

The souffle came out beautifully but by the time I got the camera it was already starting to deflate so it wasn't worth the picture. Next time I will take the shot while it is still in the oven...