111. Chocolate Souffle (p. 840)

The seeds of this Project were sown a year ago when I decided to make the Chocolate Souffle recipe in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking for a homemade Valentine's Day dinner with my wife. So, I thought that it was only fitting that I should make this recipe from The Book for this year's Valentine's dinner.

Souffles always fill people with dread and fear. The recipe itself isn't very hard, though. All you do is melt some chocolate and then stir some egg yolks into it, then fold in some beaten, sweetened egg whites and bake. The hard part is dealing with the anxiety. Will it rise? Or even worse, will if fall? Resisting the urge to open the oven door for a peek takes a level of willpower that most of us don't possess. (Seriously, if you want to make 24 minutes feel like an eternity, put a souffle in the oven and try not to check to see if it's collapsed.)

Well, the good news is that my souffle didn't fall. That's probably because it wouldn't have had too far to go since it didn't rise all that much. I'm not quite sure what happened. Maybe I beat the egg whites too much? Not enough? As The Book says, "the trick is to know when to stop beating" the egg whites. No matter, it was still airy, rich and delicious. Maybe I'll just have to make this an annual tradition and keep at it until I get it right.

Date Cooked: February 14, 2009
Degree of Difficulty: Medium
Rating: B+

101. Best Rice Pudding (p. 827)

If this recipe* is the "Best Rice Pudding," then what does that mean for the other rice pudding recipe in The Book (Dried Cherry and Raisin Rice Pudding, p. 827)? Is it the "second-best" rice pudding, or (perish the thought!) the "worst" rice pudding? I'm sure that any offense to the other rice pudding recipe was unintended by The Book's editors.

Well, I'll just have to wait until I've made both rice puddings until I can say for sure that this one really is the "best," but for the time being, I can vouch for it being pretty darn good.

I can't remember the last time I had rice pudding, but I know that I like it. It's sweet, creamy and starchy. It's one of those great comforting, old-fashioned dishes that makes you feel warm and happy.

To make this dish, I started by making some white rice flavored with butter, salt and lemon zest. (Before I went any further, I tasted the rice, and made a note to myself that this lemony-buttery rice would be good with some grilled fish.) Next I simmered some whole milk, sugar and half of a vanilla bean sliced in half lengthwise. I've never cooked with real vanilla beans before. I've always been scared off by the price (more than $8 for two beans at my local mega-mart!). I suppose I have to admit that it really did make a difference. The vanilla flavor in the finished pudding was delicious and intense, and not at all like the flavor you get from vanilla extract, even the good stuff.

Finally, I stirred in the cooked rice and some raisins and simmered until most of the liquid had absorbed and it had the texture of risotto.

The Book says to cool until just warm before serving. I made this the day before I was going to serve it, though. So, I cooled it to room temperature and put it in the refrigerator overnight. Just before I served it, I put the pudding in small bowls and heated it up in the microwave for about a minute. A little dusting of cinnamon on top, and it was ready to enjoy.

This pudding was great. Nothing fancy, just a simple, comforting, warming dessert with a wonderful creaminess and texture. The intense but smooth vanilla flavor and the plump, sweet raisins make this pudding special. My wife had some of the leftover pudding the next day cold. I tasted it that way, but it wasn't for me. I preferred it warm.

Date Cooked: January 24, 2009
Degree of Difficulty: Easy
Rating: B+

*There are lots of rice pudding recipes on epicurious.com, but this isn't one of them.

80. Old-Fashioned Chocolate Pudding (p. 824)

Pudding always makes me smile. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I can't help associating pudding with Bill Cosby and those commercials he used to do for Jello. Or maybe it's because cool, creamy chocolate-y pudding just makes you feel good.

Up until now, pudding always came from a box for me. But after making this recipe*, I don't think I'll make boxed pudding again. The recipe is pretty easy. I started by whisking together some sugar, cocoa, cornstarch and a pinch of salt in a saucepan. Then I whisked in some whole milk and brought it to a boil for a few minutes. Next, I poured the hot milk mixture in a slow stream into a bowl with a beaten egg, whisking the whole time. Finally I whisked in some chopped semisweet chocolate until it was melted and smooth.

I poured the pudding into four ramekins and put it in the refrigerator to chill. I followed The Book's instruction about covering the surface of the pudding with wax paper to prevent a skin from forming. But, who ever said that pudding skin is a bad thing?

I served the pudding with some fresh whipped cream. How did it taste? Like childhood in a bowl. And like Bill Cosby said, "you can't be a kid without it."



Date Cooked: November 23, 2008
Degree of Difficulty: Easy
Rating: A

* This recipe is not on epicurious.com.

78. Maple Pumpkin Pots de Creme (p. 832)

The Book calls this recipe "an elegant alternative to pumpkin pie." That's an understatement. This dessert elevates that steady workhorse of the Thanksgiving dessert spread to a fitting finish to the fanciest fall feast (how's that for some clever alliteration?).

This recipe is easy to make, and it can be prepared well in advance. First, I simmered some cream, milk, canned pumpkin and pure Vermont maple syrup. Then I whisked together egg yolks, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt in a bowl. Next, I whisked the hot pumpkin mixture into the yolk mixture in a very slow stream to prevent the yolks from scrambling. Then I poured the custard mixture through a fine mesh sieve. I think that this step is key to the silky, smooth and airy texture of the finished dessert because it removes any little lumps that might have formed. I poured the custard mixture into ramekins, placed them into a roasting pan, added hot water about half-way to the top of the ramekins, covered the whole thing in foil, and put it in the oven for the time listed in the recipe.

When Teena made these, she was less than satisfied with the results. She suspected that it was because the cooking time in the recipe was too long. I think that my experience with this recipe confirms her theory. The Book calls for making ten individual pots de creme in two- to three-ounce ramekins. My ramekins are pretty big (eight ounce capacity if filled to the brim), so I divided the custard among four ramekins. Even though they were more than twice the size they were supposed to be, my pots de creme were completely done in the cooking time called for in the recipe. I had expected to check them at the end of the time listed in the recipe and see how close to done they were. I was surprised to see that they were completely done.

I made these the morning that my friends were coming over for dinner and I put them in the refrigerator to chill all day. I served them with fresh, sweetend whipped cream. We all really liked this dessert. It was rich and light at the same time. The pumpkin, cinnamon and nutmeg recalled the classic Thanksgiving pumpkin pie, but the maple syrup, which provides all of the sweetness for this dessert, is a great change and gave the dessert a wonderful and somewhat unexpected flavor. In the end, I was glad that I made this dessert in the larger-sized ramekins. If I had made them in two- or three- ounce ramekins as called for in The Book, I would have been dissapointed to get only a couple of spoonfuls of dessert. I'd be forced to eat a second one, and then feel guilty about having eaten two (or maybe even three!) desserts. This way, no shame. As much as I liked this dessert, and I would make it again, I'm still not trading in my traditional Thanksgiving pumpkin pie made from the recipe on the back of the can. (Nor am I giving up my tradition of eating pumpkin pie for breakfast on the day after Thanksgiving. Don't judge me.)

Because I was having such a great time catching up with my dinner guests, I somehow forgot to take a picture of the finished product. The photo at the top of this post comes from Teena's blog.

Date Cooked: November 16, 2008
Degree of Difficulty: Easy
Rating: A