Point Reyes Blue Cheese Souffles

Just stopping in for a second to breathe. It's been a while, sorry about that. It's been a long, hot, sweaty summer. Two months of race season directly followed by two weeks of Restaurant Week, mixed with a little Fruit of the Soul is enough to make anyone's head spin, but I try to keep my cool. That said, I hope you all had a chance to come in and check us out during San Diego Restaurant Week. I'm still trying to figure out why they call it Restaurant Week when really it's two weeks. I guess Restaurant Weeks doesn't have as nice of a ring to it as the alternative.

Judging from some of the menus I've seen, some restaurants view Restaurant Week as a chore or something they have to do to keep up with the Joneses, so to speak. At Market, we see it as an opportunity to feed people that may not normally come into the restaurant, and hopefully along the way develop some new relationships with repeat customers. Our menu is ever changing, though we do have a few staples that stay throughout every season, with the accompianaments changing depending on the which fruits and vegetables are in season. We use Restaurant Week to highlight some of these staples, along with whatever else is freshest and available to us.

Our blue cheese souffle is one of these "signature dishes". Understandably, a lot of people are intimadated by the thought of making a souffle at home. I can recall old TV shows where a woman is baking one and someone slams the door and POOF! the souffle has fallen and all that work was for nothing. That's not the case with this recipe. Because these light, tangy souffles are made with a bechamel base, they are stable enough to be made head of time, cooled down and reheated later, right before serving. Perfect for an appetizer or a light dinner served with seasonal fruit, greens dressed in your favorite vinaigrette and some toasted nuts, this is the least intimadating souffle recipe around. Let your friends think you were slaving away all day, tip toe-ing around the kitchen.

Point Reyes Blue Cheese Souffle

My favorite cheese for these is the Point Reyes Blue, but you can also use Gorgonzola or any other full flavored blue.

Makes 12 (4-ounce) souffles
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups cold milk
3/4 cup crumbled Point Reyes Blue Cheese
6 egg yolks
6 egg whites
Kosher salt to taste
Ground black pepper to taste
Melt butter in a heavy saucepan. Add the flour, stirring briskly with wooden spoon until incorporated. Add cold milk slowly to make a thick cream sauce, whisking continually. Cook for about 10 minutes over moderate heat.
Remove mixture from heat and add to work bowl of a stand mixer. Stir in crumbled blue cheese. Allow to cool slightly. Attach the whisk attachment and at high speed add one egg yolk at a time. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
In a separate bowl whip the egg whites until soft peaks form. Fold into cheese-egg mixture.
Spray souffle cups with nonstick cooking spray. Fill cups 1/2-inch from top. Bake in a water bath at 300 degrees for 15 to 18 minutes and lightly brown on top. Remove from oven, let cool and unmold onto buttered parchment paper.
The restaurant serves this souffle right out of the over with a green salad, fresh seasonal fruit, and candied or toasted nuts.
The souffles can also be cooled and reheated slowly in a 300-degree oven. To reheat, place souffles in an ovenproof dish in a small amount of cream (to prevent sticking) until warm.