Saturday, April 21, 2007

Oranges Going Out With A Bang

Have you noticed how sweet the navel oranges have been at the stores lately? I was surprised to taste the sweetness because I thought the season was almost over for citrus, as we start seeing spring fruits like strawberries. But I guess after the freeze earlier this year, the oranges are making up for it with a last burst of sweetness.

The sweet oranges inspired me to make a souffle recipe I read in my PlumpJack Cookbook. As usual, I played with the recipe to reduce the servings. (The recipe in the book calls for 10 egg whites(!) to make 6 souffles.) As a single guy, I don't need to make that many souffles, especially since they don't really keep well. (It always tastes best fresh from the oven and puffed up.) I added my own twist to the recipe by throwing in a pinch of saffron threads to add to the color (that's the red things you see in the sauce above--please, no sperm jokes!). How did it turn out? Well, you can see below that the souffle looked really beautiful. But I thought it was a bit eggy for my taste. Who knows, maybe you might like that. Souffles are typically very sensitive too. I made three servings, and one of it fell before I could serve it. So it is true that you have to tip-toe when working around souffles. Nothing's more unappetizing than a flat souffle. Enjoy!

No comments: