I’ve been making a lot of potato recipes lately. There’s a 10 lb. bag in my pantry I’ve been working my way through, so expect a few more potato recipes over the next few weeks. We’ll start here with one I’ve made before–4-11: Potato Soufflé with Onions.
More of my handwriting. I’ve made this one before, and this time I remember the circumstances and my adaptations–see what good notes will do for you?
I made this for one of my “dinner parties” for my friends in my first apartment on my own after college. It was a terrible apartment, but I cooked some pretty good meals in there.
Ingredients. Biggest change: no onion. I realize this is “Potato Soufflé with Onions”–I should probably have some green onions. I considered using yellow onion, which I have an abundance of, but it’s not the same. So I called an audible and threw in some of those crispy jalapeños and red peppers you see there. They say to put them on top–I put them inside. Worked out, so there you go.
Other than that, everything else is what it calls for–even the half-and-half. 🙂
Cookin’ the taters, just like most potato recipes. I don’t like peeling potatoes (usually I leave them unpeeled), but I took one for the team.
Mashin’.
Half-and-half warmed up in the microwave. I’m a terrible measurer–I was a bit over on this one.
Separating eggs. Keep your whites out (at room temperature), but put the bowl in which you’re going to whip them into the freezer. You want it to be COLD.
Here’s Martha Stewart to tell you more about stiff peaks and how to do good ones. I used to be a big Martha detractor, but after I read her AMA on Reddit, we’re cool.
Yolks go in the potato mixture one at a time.
I use the stand mixer to make whipped egg whites–whipping by hand is not a struggle I want to take on. You can see the frost on the bowl–it spent about 10-15 minutes in the freezer before I used it. Clean & dry metal or copper bowls are the best types to use for egg whites (if the Martha link above was TL;DR for you).
Folding the egg whites into the mixture. Martha suggests using a whisk–might not have been a bad idea. Spatulas work too, though. I added about a third of the whites at a time, which is also Martha’s suggestion.
Soufflé pre-oven, in its fancy soufflé dish. I so rarely get to use dishes for what they are intended/named.
Oh hello, my dirty toaster oven friend. I’ve come to bake in you again. I don’t see a “soufflé” button. Can I use the “potato” button?
Soufflé post-oven. I thought it rose, but I compared the pre- and post- pictures and it did not. I just rotated the dish. But it did get prettier. And it was pretty fluffy. The recipe tells you not to expect a traditional soufflé rise, and they’re right, it’s not going to do that. So don’t be bummed if you try it and it doesn’t rise up like you think it should.
Anyway, we enjoyed it, and ate it with a pot roast my husband made in the crock pot. With some of the gravy from that on it, it was really tasty.
When I made it originally a few years ago, I had made it in individual ramekins to serve to guests at a party (also with a pot roast), which worked well too. Just an option if you don’t want to make the full sized one.
Grade: A
