Every now and then I wish I could poke little children with spoons. Why? Because there are few things in this world that we like to see inflated. A soufflé is one of them. A bratty little puffy-cheeked child is not.

Somewhere in time, children learned that the way to personal satisfaction was to fold one’s arms, inflate your cheeks and take as deep a breath as your little lungs will allow. You’d hold your breath until you got your way, no matter what kaleidoscope color action was happening on your face. Often, there would be a pleading parent in the immediate vicinity. This is called the Face-Off, and it ends horribly each time — with either a passed-out toddler or a bruised adult ego.

Ego-wounded adults, this is where spoons come in. We know that poking any soufflé with a spoon results with its collapse almost upon contact. My clever mother knew that the only way to deflate me during these patience-trying times was to poke me — lightly, but firm — with a spoon (or a pointer finger, if a spoon was not available). This resulted in giggles, which signaled that I had started breathing again. Mom, 1, me, 0. The experiment concluded with positive results every single time.

Children and souffles weren’t meant to remain inflated for long periods of time; they have to depuff at some point. With both subjects,  a little prodding allows the depuffication to happen sooner rather than later. I hope this information is helpful to the moms and dads who suffer through the public tantrums of their children (like the family I ran into at the supermarket a few months ago).

(Click “Read the rest of this entry” for recipe)

This soufflé is made in a ramekin built for two (about 16 ounces), to be shared between a wary adult and his/her beloved enfant terrible. If you’d like to keep your spoon to yourself, bake the soufflé in two smaller ramekins. (Just cut baking time in half and keep a watchful eye to make sure eggs don’t overcook. You’d be missing out on a creamy center surrounded by fluffy goodness.) For a vegetarian version, omit bacon.

EGG SOUFFLE WITH BACON AND ASPARAGUS
Yield: 2 servings

3 strips thick cut bacon
1/2 cup onion, minced
6 asparagus stalks, tips reserved and stalks cut into coins
4 large eggs
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 16-ounce ramekin or two 8-ounce ramekins.
2. In a nonstick frying pan, cook bacon over medium-high heat until crispy. Place bacon strips on a paper towel-lined plate to drain. When bacon is cooled, cut into bite-sized pieces and set aside.
3. Drain all but 2 teaspoons of bacon fat from pan. Add minced onion and sweat for 3 to 4 minutes, until onions are almost translucent. Add asparagus and cook for about a minute more. Remove pan from heat.
4. In a small bowl, whisk together eggs, heavy cream, Parmesan, salt and pepper, until ingredients are incorporated. Stir in onions and asparagus.
5. Line bottom of ramekin(s) with bacon pieces. Pour egg mixture over bacon. Arrange reserved asparagus tips on top of the egg mixture and place ramekin on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake in oven for 35 to 40 minutes, until center slightly jiggles and top of soufflé is somewhat browned. Serve immediately, before it falls!

Optional: You can sprinkle a tiny bit of shredded Parmesan over the top of the soufflé before baking, if desired.

– Cynthia Furey

This entry was posted on Friday, November 6th, 2009 at 8:22 am and is filed under Breakfast/brunch, Fruit/Vegetables, In the kitchen, Main dishes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.