I'm always looking for good breakfast food. For two reasons. 1) If we've heard it once, we've heard it a thousand times. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. 2) On Wednesday nights, my husband and I are at church until 8:00, so it's become a weekly tradition to eat breakfast on Wednesday nights primarily because it's usually quick to prepare. After eggs and sausage so many weeks in a row, however, breakfast for supper (or brupper as I called it growing up) can get old. Enter the below. Goat cheese and chive souffle. I found this recipe while I was sitting in a judge's office waiting to meet with her about a case my office had settled. I shamelessly asked her secretary if I could borrow the magazine to make a copy of the recipe. So glad I did. Goat cheese and eggs are a hard combination to beat. Add to that the airy texture of a souffle and it's even better, which I didn't think was possible. I've heard people say souffles are hard to make. This recipe, in spite of several steps, is actually pretty easy. And it's perfect when you're tired of the same ol' scrambled eggs.
Ingredients
3 egg yolks
3/4 cup whole milk
3 T butter
3 T white whole wheat flour
2 3-of logs soft goat cheese, crumbled
3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (I used Asiago because I didn't have Parmesan on hand)
1/3 cup chopped fresh chives
1/2 t salt
1/2 t ground black pepper
5 egg whites
Directions
Preheat oven to 375. Butter five 1-cup souffle dishes. Whisk yolks and milk in large bowl. Melt butter in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat. Add flour and stir 1 minute. Gradually whisk milk mixture into butter mixture. Continue whisking over medium heat until thick, about 2 minutes. Return mixture to mixing bowl. Cool souffle base slightly.
Set aside 1/4 cup goat cheese. Whisk remaining goat cheese, 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, chives, salt, and pepper into souffle base. Beat egg whites in another bowl until stiff but not dry. Fold whites into lukewarm souffle base in 3 parts. Divide mixture among prepared dishes. Top with remaining goat cheese and Parmesan cheese, dividing equally. Bake until puffed and golden, about 25 minutes. Set souffle dishes on plates and serve.
(Recipe adapted from Bon Appetit, January 2003)