Twice-baked Carrot and Cardamom Souffle
Published in Salads
Serve immediately with the sauce and the, optional, caramelized pecans.
Ingredients:
- 250 g carrots
- salt, to taste
- sugar, to taste
- thick slice of onion
- 40 g butter
- ¼ tsp ground cardamom
- 15 g Parmesan cheese, grated
- 1 tsp chilli sauce
- 3 egg whites
- 1 packet watercress
- 150 ml cream
- 4 green cardamom seeds
- 200 ml milk
- 1 cm fresh ginger, peeled, sliced
- 30 g flour
- 30 g Gruyere cheese, finely grated
- 2 egg yolks
- salt
- black pepper, freshly ground
- watercress leaves, to garnish
- 55 g whole pecans
Preparation:
- Boil the carrots with 2 of the cardamom pods, salt and sugar to taste, until tender. Drain and cool. Discard the cardamom pods.
- Heat the milk with the remaining cardamom pods, onion and ginger, and leave to infuse. Strain and reserve the milk.
- Melt the butter, and brush the insides of 6 x 150 ml dariole moulds or ramekins with a little of the butter.
- Stir the flour and ground cardamom into the remaining butter, and cook briefly.
- Slowly stir in the hot, infused milk, stirring constantly to make a smooth sauce.
- Bring to the boil and simmer very gently for 1 minute.
- Off the heat, stir in the cheeses and the egg yolks.
- Blitz the sauce in a food processor with the carrots and chilli sauce until smooth. Season.
- Whisk the egg whites until stiff, then, in two batches, fold into the carrot mixture.
- Spoon into the moulds and bake in a preheated bain-marie (a large roasting tin with 2 to 3 cm of boiling water in it) at 200° C for about 15 minutes, or until the soufflés are well-risen and lightly browned.
- Remove from the oven and allow to stand and sink. Turn out into an oven proof dish. At this stage the soufflés may be cooled completely and refrigerated, closely covered, for up to 4 days.
- Caramelize the pecans by heating the sugar until dark amber and folding in the pecans.
- Then out onto a well-greased metal tray and leave to cool. Chop roughly.
- Blanch the watercress for 10 seconds, refresh in iced water, and the blitz with the cream, seasoning to taste.
- Prior to serving heat the soufflés at 225° for about 10 minutes, and warm the sauce.
Serves 6.
