Why should I stop writing about eggs? Especially now that Deb at The Widow Badass and Donna at Retirement Reflections have started the “What’s On Your Plate” writing prompt challenge.
I have a love-hate relationship with eggs that started after the end of my first marriage. Broke and single, eggs were a cheap, easy and versatile source of protein. Sixteen years of flying solo and newly into retirement, my first blog was about trying to poach eggs in a Berndes pan. It was a 72 hour disaster that ended in the disposal of an otherwise incredibly good cooking pan. I whined to a good friend who told me to write about it. Suddenly, I was a blogger who wrote about eggs (and then other things.)
Which brings me to one of my go-to recipes. Last year I got married and moved in with my husband. We did a lot of consolidating and purging of possessions, including cook books. One of the ones we decided to keep was, ironically, Delia Smith’s “One is Fun.”
An early “influencer” from the 70’s, Ms. Smith’s TV cooking shows started impacting British sales of eggs and various cooking devices. I’d never heard of Delia Smith, but my husband insisted her recipe for cheese soufflé omelette was a keeper. All we had to do was double it. Also, he needed to translate the British terms for me. Right from the beginning, note that “preheat the grill” refers to the oven broiler. Then there’s the “palette knife” which I thought was for painting…its a spatula.
Since this recipe requires you to simultaneously beat egg whites to a peak while melting butter on the stove until it’s spitting hot, I suggest you get a helper. In my opinion, it’s better as a recipe for two. It’s also a great team building exercise for newlyweds!
The first time we made this together it was mouth wateringly delicious. If you like eggs, cheese and butter, you can’t go wrong. And if you beat the egg whites enough and fold in the other ingredients carefully, you will get a very fluffy soufflé. Per the recipe note above, you will swear it’s not going to turn out but it always does. The only variation we’ve had is the height of the soufflé. The slice below is about 1-1/2″ high, but we’ve achieved over 2″ at times.
What’s on our plate one Sunday a month is this very satisfying brunchy entree. In spite of all the butter and cheese, it’s very healthy because you will only crave fresh fruit and vegetables for the rest of the day!
I could not find this exact recipe on line, but here is a variation by Delia Smith using the same cooking techniques and instructions. If you are interested in more “What’s On Your Plate” check out this salad recipe by Donna and Hello Dinner by Janis. I’m sure you’ve been cooking more over the last year too, so what is on your plate?
ARTISTIC PENSION 
Yum! Sounds like my kind of recipe. And I can picture you getting out the tape measure or ruler to check the height achieved every time you make this. Am I wrong or right? LOL!
Deb
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Haha! That’s pretty much something we would do!
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Eggs, cheese, butter and brunch! What’s not to love?!
Thanks so much for joining us at ‘What’s On Your Plate’.
We hope to see you again next month. Deb and I will send out that kick off post on Wednesday, May 5.
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Looking forward to it!
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I’ve never made a souffle. My go to egg brunch is an omelettes.
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Cranky WordPress wouldn’t let me see the poached egg post because it thought I was trying to edit it — sort of like a fraud alert on your credit card! 🙂 But I’m always interested in what it was that inspired people to blog. – Marty
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Yes WP it is cranky, for sure. Well, if you’re interested in knowing how lousy a cook I was, you can scroll through the archives. It really was my very first blog. My cooking has improved over the last year.
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I will do that!
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Pingback: Reminder: What’s On Your Plate – May 5 – Retirement Reflections
Aaaah Saint Delia. I am a self-confessed cookbook queen and have all her books except, weirdly, this one! Delia is partial to a souffle and does a pretty indulgent souffled mac cheese as well.
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Hi Joanne, I think this was published in the mid 80’s…may not be in print anymore. I couldn’t even find the original soufflé recipe on line, but found an updated version which I think I’ll try. The Mac cheese sounds worth checking out too! Tracey
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i haven’t thought of these in a long time, but they were trendy for a while.
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Soufflés? I never thought about them…above my skill level in the kitchen, for sure. I remember my Mom talking about them. Perhaps this book came out while they were trendy? In any event, the omelet sure is good!
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I make soufflés on a regular basis, my family loves them, and I don’t think they ever go out of style. I have’t made a souffléd omelet in a long time, they were trendy for about five minutes in the 90s.
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Ahhh, I see. I definitely missed that trend!
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I do love eggs, cheese and butter. But not a big fan of beating, whipping and generally trying to get air into things (read: never turns out as fluffy as I’d like). But your omelette does look super fluffy & mouthwatering: I might just try again.
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You won’t be sorry! Even I can do it!
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