Post-Pompeii Souffle

Here's another souffle recipe in case you aren't in a prune mood. This one comes from New York Daily News political columnist and former WNPC president Ruth Montgomery.

She writes:

A highlight of one of the most perfect days I ever spent was this chocolate souffle. Leaving Pompeii,we traveled by car along the Amalfi Drive in Southern Italy. At dusk we reached quaint Ravello (where Greta Garbo once fled from the press for an idyllic sojourn with Leopold Stokowski). At the Hotel Caruso Belvedere, a quaint, ageless inn, we dined luxuriously in the patio with the entire bay of Salerno at our feet. This was the dessert--so superb that I wangled the recipe.

What a story! And what a dessert! So simple. Perhaps it's time for souffles to make a comeback.

Chocolate Souffle

Cherry preserves

2 eggs

1 tablespoon confectioner's sugar

1 tablespoon cocoa

Separate the eggs. Beat whites until stiff, then add the yolks and stir gently. Add the cocoa and sugar, little by little, continuing to stir gently. Place in individual buttered baking dish, on the bottom of which has been arranged a thin layer of cherry preserves. Bake in moderate oven until souffle rises, then serve at once. This serves one; increase ingreedeints according to number of servings desired.

Ready or Not, Here Comes the Prune Souffle!

I am irresistably drawn to prune recipes. Not so much the savory, but the sweet.


This one is brought to you by Helen Hill Miller, who was president of the Women's National Press Club at the time the cook book was produced.

Enjoy!

My cooking life started late. After college, when I went to work, I lived at a club. After marriage, when I went to Geneva, we lived at a hotel. On returning to the United States, I found Emma Smith, who lived with us for seventeen years. After Emma retired, I had to put my shoulder to the can opener. (Note to beginners: a hand is better.) My performance is spotty. But I can make a superb souffle, from an old family recipe.

Prune Souffle

1/2 cup prunes, cooked until soft, pits out

1/3 teaspoon cream of tartar

Whites of 5 eggs

1/2 cup sugar

Whipped cream plus sugar and vanilla--be as generous as you like

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat prunes and cream of tartar together until very smooth; stir in sugar. Beat egg whites stiff. Fold egg whites into prune mixture. Pour into baking dish, preferably a pretty one, since it's going straight to the table from the oven.

Bake half an hour in the moderate oven (without opening door to see how things are coming). Prepare bowl of whipped cream, adding spot of vanilla, dash of sugar and put in ice box.

Disregard all social amenities when the half-hour is up. Serve the souffle then, whether guests or family are ready or not.

Cheese "Fondue"

I'm a huge fan of cheese fondue. Who isn't? It's gooey, unctuous, rich, deliciousness.

But the kind I'm familiar with is kept warmly viscous in a heated pot, awaiting chunks of bread and veggies to be dipped. The recipe below sounds as if it could very well be slice-able.

What gives?

Cheese Fondue

(an often used old South Hampton Recipe)

1 cup milk

3 eggs

1/2 lb. grated cheese

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup soft bread crumbs

1 tbsp. butter

Pour milk over the bread crumbs, add salt, cheese and well-beaten yolks of eggs. Mix thoroughly. Cut and fold in the stiffly beaten whites and pour mixture into a greased baking dish. Bake in a moderate oven (325 degrees) until firm (20 min.). Serve at once.