Standing alone in the 3 a.m. darkness of a petite Paris apartment that my friends and I had called home for a week, I awakened from a dream in which I was picnicking on a grassy knoll with an exploding basket of runny cheeses and potato salad a la Francaise—the silky, vinaigrette-dressed potato salad that rivals the mayo-clad counterpart we all know and love. I groggily shuffled over to our tiny fridge to find nothing but a small heap of strawberries quietly rotting from our neglect. (This wasn’t quite the Paris experience I had hoped for.)

As the sun’s rays finally flooded through our windows, Paris came alive: the collective hum of scooters and cars, the faint clack-clack-clacks of women deftly walking in heels on the patchy cobblestone streets. I wound a scarf around my neck and soon I was clack-clacking along with them, on a mission to recreate my dream picnic.

But my Paris rendezvous with potato salad a la Francaise was not to be. The city is full of distractions when you’re on a mission—all kinds of amusements that only the strong-willed can resist: the streetside crepe stands, the artsy store window displays neighboring populated cafes on almost every corner. By the time I had reached La Grande Epicerie, the mothership of gourmet shops in Paris, to purchase my ingredients, I already had inhaled a ham and cheese crepe, a slice of pear tart (washed down with un chocolat viennois, nonetheless), and two chocolate croissants (How do the French stay so thin?). Clearly, my willpower needs a little more work.

Now that I’m back in my kitchen where distractions are scarce, this potato salad dream is front and center. For French potato salad, boiled potatoes are sliced or quartered, dressed by a tangy vinaigrette studded with scallions, dill and tarragon. It’s served warm, or at room temperature, so the licorice flavors of tarragon and sharp acidity of white wine vinegar aren’t dulled by the cold. It’s a small pleasure when paired with a simple sandwich of the meat-and-cheese variety, and is especially luxurious when tucked into a picnic basket for a leisurely outdoor meal on the grass in your nearest park.

The following is a basic French potato salad that you can use as a blank canvas: add in some bacon bits for a smoky treat, or caramelize some yellow onions for a sweet note. I use baby Red Rose potatoes simply because they’re bite-sized and make for a lovely presentation, but you’ll be fine with regular-sized red potatoes, fingerlings or any other waxy variety.

FRENCH POTATO SALAD
4 to 6 side servings

• 1 1/2 pounds baby red potatoes (or any other waxy variety)
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 2 scallions, minced
• 2 teaspoons fresh dill, chopped
• 2 teaspoon fresh tarragon, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic, minced
• Salt and pepper, to taste

PROCEDURE:

1. Scrub potatoes in cold water until clean. Remove any eyes or weird growth with a paring knife.
2. Fill a large pot with water over high heat and bring to a boil. Place potatoes in pot and cook, covered, until just tender, about 10 to 15 minutes. (If using larger potatoes, cook time will be a bit longer.) You’ll know they’re done when you can pierce a potato easily with a knife. Drain, and let cool while you make the vinaigrette.
3. Whisk olive oil, vinegar and Dijon mustard in a small bowl. Add in scallions, tarragon, dill and garlic. Set aside.
4. While still warm, slice potatoes into 1/4-inch discs, and place in a large serving bowl.
5. Pour vinaigrette over potatoes and toss to coat. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately while warm, or cool to room temperature. Now go out and have a picnic under the sun.

GRILLED CHEESE GOES SWEET

Do you remember the first time you tasted a grilled cheese sandwich? I do – and it wasn’t pretty. My childhood experience consisted of two cellophane-wrapped slices of that ubiquitous neon cheese, sandwiched between white bread, all of which was promptly nuked in the microwave for a handful of seconds until the cheese had melted. What resulted wasn’t quite a “grilled cheese” as it was a soggy, gooey mass, bordered by a rigid crust that only a superhero could munch through.

It had my mouth watering every single time.

Of course, back then, I was easier to please. Anything made with processed cheese was welcome to my hungry belly. But when I eventually tasted a real grilled cheese, there was no turning back to this microwaved monstrosity. That crisp, buttery bread; the way the warm, creamy cheddar sticks to the roof of your mouth when you take your first bite. In those lunchtime or dinner moments, there are few things in the world that are simpler and more satisfying than a classic grilled cheese sandwich. Unless, of course, you have one for dessert.

This dessert grilled cheese still has all of the typical grilled cheese components, though in different forms: Angel food cake stands in for regular bread, brie takes the place of American cheddar cheese, and balsamic strawberries are added to sweeten the sandwich up even more. If you’re not making angel food cake from scratch, you can buy it pre-made from your local supermarket. Some markets will carry “angel food bars” which are essentially loaves, and these are easier to slice into uniform pieces than the characteristic ringed cakes. Angel food cake also grills beautifully, and because of its small crumb, yields an even golden-brown crust. Flexing your creative muscles can be very, very delicious.

For this recipe, you’ll need is a nonstick frying pan, a non-metal spatula and a pastry brush, the latter to use with the melted butter. If you don’t have a pastry brush, you can always blot the butter onto the cake with a paper towel. Just be gentle, and make sure you cover the slice’s entire surface.

STRAWBERRY GRILLED CHEESE
Yield: 4 servings

• 1 pint strawberries
  2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
  1 teaspoon sugar
  12 to 16 ounces brie cheese
  8 slices angel food cake, about 1/2-inch thick
  1/3 cup melted butter
  Optional garnish: Powdered sugar, whipped cream

Procedure:
1. Rinse strawberries and pat dry, then slice in the halves or quarters, depending on size of strawberries. Place in a medium bowl with balsamic vinegar and sugar. Mix to coat, and set aside for 30 minutes, stirring once to redistribute syrup.
2. Slice rind off of brie. (This is a little tricky, given the brie can be gooey and hard to work with. Make sure the brie is chilled rather than room temperature, as will help a bit.) Once rind is removed, slice brie into 1/2-inch thick chunks.
3. Heat a nonstick frying pan over medium heat. Brush butter on one side of angel food cake slice, and position it butter-side down on a cutting board or other work surface. Arrange chunks of brie and a few balsamic strawberries on slice, then top with another slice of angel food cake, brushing the top with melted butter.
4. Grill sandwich in pan for about 3 to 4 minutes. Flip sandwich over, and use spatula to press down, to flatten slightly, so all ingredients meld together. Grill for an additional 3 to 4 minutes, or until slice is uniformly golden brown.
5. To serve: Cut each sandwich into two triangles, and serve warm with remaining balsamic strawberries. Garnish with powdered sugar and/or whipped cream, if desired.

The homely russet potato is not much to look at — especially when you compare it to the swirling architectural beauty of a head of Romanesco broccoli, or the seductive lipstick-red of a radish. But the russet’s allure lies beneath its skin: a creamy, unblemished flesh so versatile, it can transform into a bevy of appetizing eats using just about any cooking method invented.

Yes, these grubby little tubers clean up real nice.

One of my favorite russet makeovers is the galette, where potatoes take a cue from the Romanesco’s structural swirl. To make a galette, potatoes are cut into thin slices, then arranged in an overlapping spiral to form a circular tart. Between potato layers, you can use your imagination to add aromatics, herbs and cheese to flavor. I love the combination of onions, garlic and rosemary — it’s a fragrant classic that never disappoints in a potato dish. This combo also works well if you plan to serve the galette with meaty main courses like beef and lamb.

Now, it’s true that traditional galettes are prepared with a pastry crust, but this isn’t necessary when you’re using russet potatoes. When the galette is baked, the potato slices act as both crust and filling — the top and bottom layers crisp and brown into a crust all its own, while the galette’s center remains pillowy and light. After baking, the galette is inverted to showcase a smooth, even surface of golden potato goodness. (And I promise, inverting it is a lot easier than you may think.)

There are a few methods for making a potato galette, but the breeziest is baking with a nonstick cookie sheet. The sheet acts as a blank, wide canvas for you to create your masterpiece, and the Teflon coating keeps individual potato slices from sticking to the sheet when you eventually flip the galette over onto a serving plate.

This is also a recipe where you can brush up your knife skills. Making thin, wispy potato slices may take a bit of patience if you’re a newbie, but the end result is well worth it. And don’t worry if your slices are uneven or slivered. You can arrange slices to mask these imperfections – but only if you want. In my experience, the flawed, rustic galettes are the best ones.

ROSEMARY POTATO GALETTE
Yield: 6 to 8 servings

• 3 pounds Russet potatoes
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried Rosemary

Procedure:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Scrub and peel the potatoes, then pat them dry with a paper towel. Slice the potatoes crosswise into super-thin slices, no thicker than 1/8-inch thick (the thinner, the better). Don’t worry if slices aren’t uniform – you can still use them.
2. Place potato slices into a large bowl with olive oil, salt and pepper. Toss with your hands to coat.
3. Starting in the middle of your nonstick cookie sheet, arrange potato slices into a circle, spiraling and overlapping potatoes until you have a circle about 10 inches in diameter.
4. Top this circle with half of the onion, garlic, Parmesan cheese and rosemary. Repeat Step 2, making another spiraling potato mass over the first one. Top with remaining onion, garlic, Parmesan cheese and rosemary.
5. Continue to add layers of spiraling potato slices until you have none left. Press down on the galette to help the potatoes settle into place. If you need to, you can tidy up here by removing slices or tucking some slices under others.
6. Bake galette for 45 minutes, or until the top is crispy and has a rich, golden brown color. Remove from oven and cool for 10 minutes.
7. When ready to serve, take a large plate and place it over the top of the galette. With one hand on the base of the plate and one hand on the underside of the cookie sheet, flip galette over, so that the cookie sheet is now on top. Remove the cookie sheet to reveal a uniform, golden spiral of potatoes. Cut the galette into wedges. You can serve it as-is, or as a side dish to a meaty main course.

Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it.

If you’ve been around long enough, you may have noticed things are getting a bit green in here, what with a salad and a broccoli rabe-heavy spaetzle as my last two recipe posts. Green just seems like the thing to do in the middle of February. Maybe it’s a subconscious thing to counteract all that V-day red we’ve been seeing, or maybe I’m jumping the gun into March. Either way, it just feels right.

These recipes were inspired by the simple pear, basil and parmesan salad I made for L.A.’s Stir It 28 event for Haiti last weekend (that of which I adapted from Leite’s Culinaria). People really seemed to like the combination of pear and basil.

For those not familiar with Stir It 28, read the rundown here. A handful of dedicated and super-friendly food bloggers, caterers and chefs descended on Greg/SippitySup’s lovely Hollywood Hills kitchen in the name of Haiti. (I’m compelled to mention here that Greg has excellent taste in knives. Shun, baby.) We cooked for an estimated 75 guests, all whom donated to the Stir It 28 Haiti fund. For more coverage of the L.A. event, visit the Duo Dishes, The Food Addicts, Uncouth Gourmands, South Bay Rants n Raves and Domestic Divas. (I’ll add more links as they come in!) If you didn’t attend the event, you can still donate to the cause by visiting Flanboyant Eats or CocoCooks and clicking on the logo. All proceeds benefit Share Our Strength and Yele Haiti. Donations will be accepted until Feb. 28.

So back to the recipe: The pesto portion of these recipes can be doubled, tripled – quadrupled even – to suit your needs. And if you have more than an hour on your hands, I suggest cooking the onions down until they’re really browned — not just a golden brown. The darker they are, the sweeter they will be.

PEAR AND PESTO CROSTINI
Yield: 2 to 3 servings (or if you’re me, 1 serving)

• 1/2 loaf French bread
• 2 cups packed basil leaves
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• 1/4 cup Pecorino Romano
• 3 tablespoons your best olive oil
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 Bosc pear

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Slice French loaf into 1/2-inch-thick slices, and brush (or spray, if you have one of those nifty Misto things) with olive oil. Place slices on baking sheet and toast in oven for 10-15 minutes, or until edges are a deep golden brown. Remove from oven and set aside.
2. While those are in the oven, make your pesto. In a food processor, combine basil leaves, garlic clove, pine nuts and Romano cheese. Pulse until pesto is coarse in texture, like coarse sand. Add in olive oil and process until fully incorporated. Taste. Add salt and pepper, if needed. Scrape pesto into a serving bowl or dish and set aside. (You should have about 3/4 cup.)
3. Cut pear into thin slices and place on a platter with crostini and pesto. To assemble: Spread pesto over crostini and top with pear and fresh ground black pepper, if desired. (Click on “Read the rest of this entry” for skirt steak/caramelized onion recipe.)

SKIRT STEAK, CARMELIZED ONION AND PESTO CROSTINI
Yield: 2 to 3 servings

• 1/2 loaf French bread
• 3 medium onions
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 5 tablespoons your best olive oil, divided
• 2 cups packed basil leaves
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• 1/4 cup Pecorino Romano
• 1/4 pound skirt steak
• Salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Slice French loaf into 1/2-inch-thick slices, and brush (or spray, if you have one of those nifty Misto things) with olive oil. Place slices on baking sheet and toast in oven for 10-15 minutes, or until edges are a deep golden brown. Remove from oven and set aside.
2. Slice onions crosswise into thin rings. Place in a pot over medium heat with 1 teaspoon salt and 1 tablespoon olive oil and cook for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. You’ll know onions are ready when they turn a super-caramel color. (You can always cook them down even more, until they’re jam-like and brown. There’s no right or wrong here.)
3. Make your pesto while the onions are on the stove. In a food processor, combine basil leaves, garlic clove, pine nuts and Romano cheese. Pulse until pesto is coarse in texture, like coarse sand. Add in 3 tablespoons of olive oil and process until fully incorporated. Taste. Add salt and pepper, if needed. Scrape pesto into a serving bowl or dish and set aside. (You should have about 3/4 cup.)
4. When onions are done, remove from heat and start on the steak. Heat the remaining table of olive oil in a sauté pan over medium-high heat. Sprinkle skirt steak with a bit of salt and pepper and sauté for 1 to 2 minutes (depending on thickness) on both sides. Transfer steak to a cutting board and rest it for 10 minutes before slicing meat crosswise.
5. To assemble: Slather on the pesto, top with caramelized onion and skirt steak. Enjoy!

– Cynthia Furey

My apologies for the light posting today. I can barely keep my eyes open — let alone attempt to say something with wit — because of all the meds I’m on right now. All I can offer you is this salad, and if my memory serves me well, it was a good one at that.

This peppery salad is the last thing I could taste before a nasty sinus infection set in and rendered my taste buds useless. But it could have been worse. The last thing I ate could have been something awful, like Brussels sprouts or a bowl of frozen peas. I thank my lucky stars.

It’s been a few days and I still can’t taste anything, but the memory of this simple salad still lives on. I loved the crouton-sized roasted sweet potatoes, which lent a sunny vibe to an otherwise wintery salad. (Click on “Read the rest of this entry” for recipe.)

This is another one of those simple-is-best salads, where you can really taste the ingredients. Try it as a first course with a roast chicken, or as a full meal in itself. And reward yourself: don’t skimp on the cheese. You deserve it.

ARUGULA SALAD WITH SWEET POTATO CROUTONS
Yield: 4 servings

• 1 sweet potato
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon crushed and dried rosemary
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 4 cups packed arugula
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Shaved Parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Cut sweet potato into crouton-sized pieces and arrange on a parchment-lined baking sheet. toss with 1 tablespoon olive oil, rosemary, salt and pepper. Roast for 15 to 20 minutes, or until pieces are browned and tender. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.
2. In a large bowl, add arugula, olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. Toss mixture until all leaves are coated. Throw in roasted sweet potatoes, toss, and garnish with shaved Parmesan.

I’m not gonna lie. This isn’t a gourmet dish that came about through many moons of research and testing. It was birthed when its parents, desperation and craving, met late one night in a refrigerator half-stocked with vegetables my mother has never heard of and more booze than I would ever care to tell her about. We all know that chance encounters sometimes don’t work out, but on that night, desperation and craving were at the right place at the right time. It was love at first sight.

Desperation wanted to use all of the ingredients in the kitchen that were on their last legs. Craving wanted nothing more than a giant bowl of wiggly spaetzle — the same spaetzle that caused a young culinary student (ahem) to hide in a corner of the kitchen storeroom while shoveling it into her mouth with her bare hands.

Together, desperation and craving created a meal with echoes of that curious day when three-quarters of the spaetzle mysteriously disappeared from the Culinary Arts 122 class. Only this time, there was broccoli rabe, prosciutto and toasted pine nuts to share the spotlight. (Click on “Read the rest of this entry” for recipe.)

A big hug and thank you to Val, who  in my hour of need typed the spaetzle recipe to me in an e-mail. The original recipe is from one of the earlier editions of the CIA’s “Professional Chef,” but it was inexplicably taken out in later versions of the book (too many students hiding in storerooms?). I tweaked the recipe based on what I had in my fridge, and it’s just as good as I remember.

BROWN BUTTER SPAETZLE WITH PROSCIUTTO AND BROCCOLI RABE
Yield: 2 to 3 servings

• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup whole milk
• 1/4 cup parsley, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup butter
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 medium onion, minced
• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• 1 bunch broccoli rabe, chopped
• 1/4 pound sliced prosciutto, chopped
• Garnish: Parmesan cheese, lemon juice

PROCEDURE
1. Put a large pot of salted water on the stove and over high heat to boil.
2. In a large bowl, crack the eggs and add milk, parsley, salt and pepper and mix until combined. Add in flour a little bit at a time and mix until combined. The dough will be a bit runny, and this is just fine. Let sit for 10 minutes to rest.
3. Put a colander or cheese grater over the pot of boiling water and spoon dough through holes. You’ll have a bunch of wiggly noodle nuggets that drop into the pot. Cook these for 5 to 6 minutes until just tender. Drain.
4. Melt butter in a sauté pan over high heat. When butter starts to separate and brown, have your ingredients at the ready. You’ll know the butter is ready to go when you start smelling a sweet, nutty aroma.
5. Dump in the drained spaetzle, garlic, onion, pine nuts and broccoli rabe. Cook in browned butter for about 2 minutes, then remove from heat. Toss in prosciutto and top with a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

My column ran today in The Orange County Register print edition today. It’s not available online, so I’ve posted it here. Thanks for reading!
*****
Every year, we look forward to the annual holiday eating rituals: A golden, grand dame of a turkey, savory sides and a sweet finale with pumpkin pie front and center. (And if you’re household is like mine, the obligatory post-feast nap follows soon after.)

Though there’s nothing wrong with these traditions, why not mix it up a bit? This year, you may want to surprise your guests by serving pumpkin pie at the beginning of the meal instead of at dessert. How? By turning it into a soup. The transformation can be made even easier by using canned pumpkin instead of fresh, yielding fantastic results.

Canned food often gets a bad rap for being, well, canned. And rightly so; fresh ingredients are almost always better in recipes. But there are few exceptions to this rule, and canned pumpkin is one of them. For one, the canned variety is way easier to use. When you’ve got your hands full with roasting a bird and preparing sides to go with it, chopping, boiling and mashing fresh pumpkin isn’t making the best use of your time. Tip: When buying canned pumpkin, make sure you’re getting “pumpkin puree” instead of “pumpkin pie mix,” which is offered in similar-sized cans with almost identical labels.

This recipe yields a spicy soup that’s just reminiscent enough of a pumpkin pie to seem like a before-dinner treat, but packs enough savory ingredients to warrant it a place as a starter or first course. And with the welcome addition of bacon, cream and butter (necessary ingredients for happiness, in my opinion), everyone’s a winner.

The following long list of ingredients may look intimidating, but I promise the procedures are quite simple: You simply cook everything in one pot. If you have a formal party and want an elegant soup, you can puree it for a soft, velvety texture. But it’s just as good when left as a hearty, rustic soup.

When I make this soup, I like to serve it with pie crust “crackers” on the side. Take some ready-made pie dough (or homemade, if you have it), roll it out and use cookie cutters to cut rounds from the dough. Bake rounds on a baking sheet according to package directions.

Another fun way to serve this soup is in shot glasses. If there are appetizers before dinner, you can easily slide a tray of these onto any table, and guests can help themselves to pumpkin soup shooters. (Click on “Read the rest of this entry” for recipe.)

PUMPKIN SOUP WITH BACON
Yield: 6 to 8 servings

• 8 strips bacon
• 2 cups onion, diced
• 1 cup carrot, diced
• 1 cup celery, diced
• 1 can (29 ounces) pumpkin puree*
• 1 cup white wine
• 8 cups chicken or vegetable stock
• 1 cup water
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon cloves
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

PROCEDURE:
1. Chop bacon into small pieces. In a 4- or 5-quart pot over medium-high heat, cook bacon until crispy. Remove from pot and set on paper towel-lined plate to drain and cool.
2. Add onion, carrot and celery to bacon fat in pot and cook for about a minute. Add pumpkin puree and cook for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until puree is slightly darker in color. (This will caramelize and deepen the pumpkin’s flavor.)
3. Add wine, stock, water, sugar and all spices, and stir to combine.
4. Bring soup to boil. Reduce heat to low and cover pot, leaving lid slightly ajar to allow room for steam to escape from soup. Simmer for 1 hour, or until soup has reduced by about one quarter.
5. Taste soup and adjust seasonings. (For spicy-food fans, you may want to add more cayenne and chili powder.
6. Optional step: With a blender or immersion blender, puree soup until smooth. If using a blender, puree the soup in batches. Return to pot.
6. Turn off heat and add cream and butter. Mix in bacon. Soup is ready to serve. Garnish with bacon pieces, if desired.

Cook’s note: Should you want to use fresh pumpkin in this recipe, 4 1/2 cups of cubed pumpkin is the equivalent.

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