Once upon a souffle...

Once upon a time a girl from the shore wanted to have a Halloween Party complete with cobwebs, fancy dishes, glittered pumpkins, bowls of candy, and a souffle. Not just any souffle, but her grandmother's butternut squash. And, to make it oh so perfect, the souffles needed to be in there own little dishes. But, as most fairy tales go, there has to be a "bad guy" and this tale was not unlike all others. This time the "bad guy" was disguised as a clock. Let's just call him- Time. Now, Time was a bit impatient (the irony of it all) and he wanted everything to be ready all together. But, the souffles were not having anything to do with being on schedule. They unanimously decided to be stubborn. And, the girl kept checking on them because she was worried about them. And, if there is one rule about souffles, it is this- DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN DURING THE BAKING PROCESS. Yes, that rule is a stickler, but the girl was trying to remedy the meal! I mean, who has a dinner party and tells everyone the first course isn't ready and it won't be ready for, well, an undisclosed amount of time! Let's just drink some more witches brew, aka red wine. As the wine flowed and people laughed, cute little hoodlums, princesses, football stars and witches smiled and asked the proverbial question, "trick or treat?" I said, "TREAT" in response. I got odd looks but I seriously wanted someone to cast a magic spell and "POOF" the souffles would be cooked! No such luck, just an emptier candy bowl!! So, in keeping with a tale, the girl had to go to plan B. Every good cook has a plan B! I knew the souffles rising celebration had left the building, but their flavor was sure to be in tact. Forge on and throw the other food on the stove and oven and serve course two first. Everyone finally sat to savor the roasted cauliflower with cumin, braised beef in red wine and caramelized brussel sprouts; however, when the souffle decided they were ready to play, they were the star! The flavor was amazing and the cute dishes were licked clean by all guests. They even out shone the pumpkin gingersnap ice cream I had made from scratch! I love how the fairy tale ended...everyone was smiling with full bellies, the wine was polished and a prince did the dishes! Thank you to Prince Ray!

The Sequel...because this tale needed one! ha ha

I decided to make them with the girls at the condo in Palm Desert. I couldn't let them be remembered in such bad light because of a girl in the shore who fought with Time. This was a better showing all around and, once again, the flavor was loved. But this time, they were a beautiful sight of puffed up goodness!

By the way, if you didn't already get the message, I should probably repeat it. DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN WHEN THE SOUFFLES ARE BAKING!

as it stands~
guests- 12 plus 3
emotions- about a billion (it is a longer story then this little girl wants to share!)
meltdowns- same answer as above
mistakes- a big fat one
recipes- 1
recipes to date- 22

The Recipe 

Butternut Squash Souffle

2 cups cooked, mashed squash (I purchased a squash that looked to be about cups- not exactly exact, but it worked for me! ha ha Cut it in half lengthwise and rub with olive oil, place cut side down on cookie sheet and roast on 325 degrees for about 40 minutes to an hour. Take out and let it cool. When at room temperature, scoop all the goodness out. I did this the day before and stored in a container in the fridge.)
1/2 cup dark corn syrup
1 tsp grated lemon rind
3 egg whites, stiffly beaten
1/2 chopped nuts (I didn't include)
1 tsp salt
dash of pepper
dash of nutmeg
3 egg yolks, well beaten

Mix squash, syrup, lemon rind, seasonings and egg yolks. Fold in egg whites. Spoon into ungreased 1 1/2 quart baking dish. Set in a pan and fill pan with hot water almost to top of dish. Bake at 350 degrees until knife inserted comes out clean - about 1 1/2 hours. Garnish with a circle of nuts. Or can be baked in a 9" pastry shell for 50 minutes at 400 degrees.

Or, try my version and bake in ramekins at 325 degrees for about 40 minutes to an hour (time is dependent on how many you are cooking).Watch through oven window to monitor.

Some Kind of Crazy

Meshugeneh and MSG, what do they have in common? Both a little crazy. Let me explain- Meshugeneh is a nickname I gave Scotty, Wendy's son, when he was born. I was reading a book by a Jewish author and she had sprinkled Yiddish throughout her vignettes. I was enamored by one specific word- meshugeneh- which means crazy person. When Scotty was born and I looked at him, right then and there I knew he was my little crazy person. Now for MSG. Not really sure where to start with that one except for it being a banned/fearful/crazy ingredient that no one would touch. But, there it was in my grandma's recipe. Yup, neatly typed on the index card- 1/2 tsp of MSG. How crazy?? As soon as I saw it, all these hand-scribbled signs posted in Chinese restaurants popped into my head! "NO MSG!" Needless to say, I got a bit concerned. How was I to get around this one? I always wanted to follow the recipe (well, except for when it calls for green peppers!) But, clearly, it was not an ingredient anybody was wanting. So, I figured, my grandma would forgive this one indiscretion. For sure. Okay, enough about all the crazy. Let's talk about the fun!

It was Meshug's (of course, Meshugeneh had to turn into a nickname! ha ha!!) birthday and he had set ideas about how to celebrate and Auntie Jodi wanted to give him everything he wanted, right down to the round cake with another smaller round cake on top with Mike and Ike's sprinkled on top of it. (It was pretty cute!) He also wanted a taco bar complete with Mexican rice. This is where Grandma comes in.

I found a recipe for Mexican rice and got started on my "mis en place." I toasted the rice. I think this is the best part of making rice. It has such a nutty aroma and you just want to stick your whole head in the pot to take it in! And, you gotta love a rice dish because you just let it do it's thing.

When it was done, I did add quite a bit of chili powder and cumin. I love cumin. It is so fragrant and can completely transform a dish. I think the rice is a great base and can be seasoned in any fashion you prefer, mild to spicy.

By the way, Scotty's birthday party was a hit! I had covered the dining room in 'glow in the dark' green webs and black ribbon, complete with sparkly purple pumpkins. It was a howling good time, even if I took a million photos of him to get "the shot" for the blog. His patience during all the photo mania was his "thank you" to me for the birthday bash.

Happy Birthday, Meshugeneh, my favorite crazy person! I love you!

as it stands~
guests- 3
emotions- 1
meltdowns- 0
mistakes- none
recipes- 1
recipes to date- 21

The Recipe

Mexican Rice

1/2 stick of butter
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 clove of garlic
2 tbsp chopped green pepper (I omitted, of course!)
1 3/4 cup tomato sauce (I used a can versus a jar.)
3 cups of chicken stock, hot (I used vegetable stock to keep it vegetarian.)
1/2 tsp MSG (see, I told you it was here!!! But, I don't think you should use it because it is a bit controversial.)
2 cups raw long grain rice (I just used white rice.)

In a large pan, heat half the butter and saute the onions, garlic and green pepper until golden. Heat the rest of the butter in the same pan, add rice and cook gently until rice is well coated. Add tomato sauce, heat and add chicken stock. Cover and cook 20 minutes over low heat. Season.