Friday, January 03, 2003

I wish to be clear.  The Julie/Julia Project, all Atkins-associated theories aside, is not great on the figure.  Although my crisis point came in Texas, while I was filling up on tostada chips and Mexican Martinis rather than quenelles and Cote-du-Rhone, the situation had been coming to a head long before then.  Don’t worry, I’m not embarking upon a cry-me-a-river, am-I-fat rant.  Just wanted to keep you abreast of some of the developments, in a spirit of scientific inquiry.  Of course, it goes without saying that the Project must continue.  I have vowed simply to eat with discipline – small portions, no seconds, lots of lettuce on the side.  Which brings me to the dangers of Souffle de Saumon.  Souffles are tricky on a diet.  They fool you.  You take a bite of a delicious salmon soufflé, perfectly browned, light and puffy, and you can’t help thinking, against all your experience and judgement, “oh, this couldn’t be bad.  This is like eating yummy, moist air.” Then before you know it, you’ve eaten half a soufflé. Pair this with having committed the cardinal sin of self-imposed starvation during the day, leading to the inevitable blood sugar incident and consequent emergency York patty, and you have a not-terribly-effective weight loss plan on your hands.  Pair that with the emotional toll of having a perpetually skinny husband, and the Christmas candy just lying around, and the couple of vodka tonics that serve to lower your resistance to said Christmas candy, and you’ve got a disaster. But the soufflé is damned good. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  Butter a soufflé mold, and sprinkle it with grated cheese – I used Swiss, but parmesan would stick better.  Saute 2 tablespoons of minced shallots in 3 tablespoons of butter.  Add 3 tablespoons of flour and cook without browning.  Stir in a cup of boiling liquid – juices from a can of salmon plus milk – into the roux.  Add salt and pepper, a tablespoon of tomato paste, and some oregano or marjoram.  Bring this to a boil for a minute, then take off heat before beating in four egg yolks, one at a time.  Stir in a scant half cup of grated Swiss cheese and  ¾ cup shredded canned salmon. (You could use fresh, obviously, but I used canned, the opening and cleaning of which led to considerable tension among all cats in the vicinity, both inside and out.) Beat 5 egg whites (which means wasting an egg yolk, of course, unless you’re smarter than me and have some fancy-pants way of saving your yolks) with a smidge of salt until stiff, then fold it gently into the first mixture.  Pour it into the mold.  Sprinkle it with a bit more cheese.  Stick it in the hot oven, immediately turn the temperature down to 375, and bake for half an hour. 7:23:46 AM    comment []