Soufflé Series Part 2

In the first part of this series, I made a soufflé from traditional pastry ingredients.  This time I am going to try and mix up the recipe a little with the addition of agar agar(look here for more info) and baking soda.
Recipe:
36g butter
26g flour
2 green cardamom pods
82g honey
60g milk + 35g separate
15g sugar
2g agar
50g egg yolks
Amounts per soufflé made - 40g egg-whites, 6g sugar, 1/4 pinch malic acid powder, 1/8 tsp baking powder
Method:
Add the butter and cardamom to a small pot and melt the butter. Add the flour and whisk. Turn the heat to high and add the honey. Once incorporated stream-in the milk and cook until it boils, it will be very thick. ---->
Let this cool until close to room temperature(you just don't want to cook the yolks). Pour the agar and sugar into a small dish and mix them up to disperse the agar in the sugar. Whisk this mixture into the cold 35g of milk and then add the yolks. Pour all of this into the thickened milk and flour mixture. ----->
Stir and pass everything through a chinoise.

Decide how many soufflés you are going to make(up to six from this recipe) and butter and sugar 5oz. ramekins. All of the ingredients to follow need to be adjusted depending on how many soufflés you are making, the amounts are for one soufflé. Scale into a bowl, 45g of the base. To this base add 1/8 teaspoon of baking powder. Add 40g of whites into a separate large bowl. Add 6g of sugar and 1/4 of a pinch of malic acid powder to the whites. Whip the whites to medium peaks and add half to the scaled base. Mix until they just start to combine and then add the rest of the whites. Gently fold-in the rest of the whites and spoon into the ramekin, fill just to the top. Bake at 400F for about 9.5 minutes. Plate it up.

I know... these didn't come out as nice. Here is the analysis:
The results from this modified recipe were not better than the traditional.  It is possible to produce just as good a soufflé as the traditional recipe, but there was more opportunity for error. For instance look at this soufflé. It rose a lot, and it never fell. However, it blew itself up. The addition of the baking powder gave the soufflé extra rising power, causing the soufflé to turn itself inside-out near the end of the baking process. Still tasted great, but it

doesn't look great. This was the most common defect - continuing to try and rise after the top was set, and then breaking the top open.
The two pictured soufflés, side by side, were made from the same base, but the one on the right had the sides slightly stick to the side of the ramekin and it promptly turned itself inside-out as it rose. The one of the left was almost identical to the traditional method soufflé, but it did bulge a little on top, not appealing ascetically.

I hope to try out more versions of the modified soufflé base, however this attempt was mediocre, coming out slightly worse than the traditional version in the best instances. It turns out this recipe is actually more temperamental than the original, without any benefits.

I''m going to conclude with a few more thoughts on this recipe and the last.
The sugar added to the whites does make it harder to whip the whites to peaks, but it also makes the whites more viscous, the sugar binds water, and therefore the result is more stable. I am will to sacrifice the ease of whipping whites without any sugar for the extra stability, plus every time I did a trial I was able to get to soft peaks by hand in less than a minute even with the sugar.
The agar agar was meant give stability and enhance the texture of the soufflé, both inside and out. However, unlike the baking soda, the effects of the agar weren't really noticeable. The souffle was as stable and had as creamy a texture as in the original trial.  It did help maintain the structure of the soufflé once it cooled, but only once it completely cooled, well beyond ideal eating temperature. Any benefits that the agar could have produced were already being taken care of by the yolks.
At least with this general approach to making soufflés, agar and baking soda are duds. Maybe they could be beneficial in the future if I come at this technique from a different direction.
I'll post more on this after putting up some other stuff, I can only eat so many soufflés.

With love,
Adam

Soufflé Series Part 1

I decided to start from scratch and create my own recipe for sweet soufflés. This first post will be a classical attempt, the next part of the series will deal with using non-traditional ingredients in an effort to produce a more stable and higher rising soufflé.
The general idea in making a soufflé, as far as I understand it(I am sure there are other versions), is that whipped egg-whites can be used as the sole leavening agent for a flavored base. The combination of fluffy whites, dense flavored base, and heat of the oven create a heavily leavened, light, flavorful, yet fleeting, treat.
In creating a recipe that would achieve these results I thought that the denser and more flavorful the base, the better the result would be. The whites only act to leaven and modify the texture of the soufflé, they do not add any flavor(other than egg-whitiness). Therefore, the base needs to be flavorful enough to stand-up the dilution of the egg whites and have enough stabilizers to rein-in the whites and prevent them from falling after rising. 
I am using 5oz. Aplico brand porcelain ramekins to hold the soufflé.
Recipe:
64g milk
1g salt
100g honey
28g flour
35g butter
50g yolks (about 3 extra-large eggs worth)
50g whites per soufflé (maximum recipe yield is 6)
6g sucrose per soufflé 
1/4 pinch malic acid powder per soufflé(you can substitue another acid, explained in method)
extra butter and sugar for lining the ramekins


You do not have to make all of the soufflés at once because the base keeps very well. It is best to make a batch of base and then add only as much egg-whites as you need; this is why I have written the recipe in this format.


Method:
Add the butter to a small pot, something you can use a whisk in, and melt it. Add the flour and stir until incorporated, you are making a roux for a dessert.
Turn the heat to high and whisk(make sure this is not a flimsy whisk) in the honey and salt. Once the mixture is starting to get hot, stream in the milk, it doesn't have to be very slow, it is just easier to incorporate when not added all at once. Bring this to a boil, the flour will thicken the base until it is almost impossible to stir, and the batter will stick into the whisk. Press the thickened base out of the whisk with a small spoon and place all of it into a small bowl. Once the base has cooled to around room temperature, add all of the yolks and stir until well combined. This can now be stored for several days, but needs to be tempered before use by being brought back to close to room temperature.
Decide how many soufflés you are going to make and place 46g of base for each one, into a bowl. See here.->
In a separate bowl add 50g of whites per desired soufflé.  Line each of the ramekins with a thin coating of butter, and then put in a small amount of sugar and turn the ramekin until there is a coating of sugar covering the entirety of the inside of the ramekin.
To the whites, add 6g of sugar and 1/8 of a pinch of malic acid powder(again,with both of these, per soufflé). Whisk the egg-whites until they are at medium peaks, slightly drooping, but not too soft. Take 1/2 of the whipped whites and stir it into the base. Then gently fold the rest of the whites in, trying to keep as much air in them as possible, the base does not have to be completely uniform, just mostly. Spoon this batter into each of the lined ramekins until it reaches the lip of the vessel, do not over or under fill. Place into a 400F oven for about 9.5 minutes(I highly recommend cooking a test soufflé to get the timing perfect, but 9.5 has been working well for me).



Adding the malic acid powder, you don't need very much.










This soufflé is over filled(I thought filling above the rim would make it rise more) it ended up being top-heavy and rose out as well as up.
This next soufflé is properly filled, and rose evenly upward, was stable after taking out of the oven, and was airy and moist in the middle, success. This one plates itself up!

Some concluding explanations:

I incorporate the yolks into the base after cooking the flour because I want the yolks to thicken only as the soufflé starts to rise. I tried making the based with cooked yolks, but then I realized that uncooked yolks in the base make it seem thinner than it is. What I mean by that is the base wont be overly thick at room temperature(the thickening power of the yolk has not been activated yet), but once heated, it will thicken and stabilize the soufflé.

The flavoring for this soufflé is honey, I use local wildflower honey that I bought at the Union Square Green Market. It has a lot of flavor, and I use it because the quality of the honey in this recipe is essential in the quality of the end result. I knew that the base had enough flavor because when I tasted it, it tasted heavily of honey. Once diluted, in the end, there was a pleasant, but distinct honey flavor present.

Also, I add sugar and an acid to the whites because I find that they whip into a more stable and smooth mass. You do not need to use malic acid powder, I have a lot of it, it tastes good and I only need to add the smallest pinch to have an effect. A little lemon juice would have a similar effect.

Finally, the reason that I butter AND sugar my ramekin, even though in Harold McGee's On Food and Cooking(p.113) it is suggested otherwise, that combination produces the best rise. Take a look at these three soufflés. All three have batter from the same mixing bowl, all chocolate flavored, and baked side by side in the oven all at once.  The one of the left is a dry ramekin, in the middle is just butter, and on the right, butter and sugar; judge for yourself.

I was very happy with this classical souffé adventure, but I want more, I want to see if I can get a higher rise, better texture, and more stability. In the next part I will document how the non-traditional soufflés turn out.

I'm yours,

Adam

Pommes Soufflée

The first time I was exposed to souffléed potatoes was when a Certified Master Chef(CMC) decided to make them, randomly, while teaching a class at culinary school... we didn't have much success. Conceptually, they do not really appeal to me; they are a hybrid, not a chip, and not a fry. However, I love frying potatoes, so I couldn't resist exploring this uncommon preparation.  I did some research and found that all of the recipes called for two frying stages.  Other than this, there were subtle differences in fry temperature or shape of the potato.   I bought a few potatoes and decided to run the gamut; fry at a bunch of different temperatures and cut a bunch of different shapes.
Here are the short answers:
Does the shape matter? Not really.
What thickness is best? 2mm
Does the type of potato matter? Yes, a lot.
What temperature for the first fry? 310°F
What temperature for the second fry? 380°F
How long do I let the potato rest in-between frys? Do not let the potato rest.

Now the long explanation:
I used russet and carola potatoes. I started by ring cutting some and leaving some in the natural shape of the peeled potato. I tried frying in increments of 10 degrees Fahrenheit for the first and second frys. The range for the first fry was 270-360. The range for the second fry was 360-400. Through these temperature ranges I was trying 3 different thicknesses 2,3 and 4 mm. Here are some shots of what it looked like.

From these trials I found that the 2mm slices had the best texture, and starting at 310F dried them out, generated a good amount of steam to puff the sides, and didn't prematurely brown them. Also, finishing above 380F turned the potatoes dark brown in just a few seconds, but below this temperature doesn't generate enough steam to get the puff.

To be honest though, none of the potatoes really puffed, they blistered, and all looked liked they wanted to puff, but they all looked like this. LAME! I wanted crunchy potato pillows. I was feeling defeated, all of these trials and not much to show for it.

I then decided to try a different technique. I didn't think to do this initially because when I was researching for this little project I read a story about how these were supposedly "discovered" when a chef started to fry a chip and then had to pull it out before it was done, and then refried it.  This implied a resting period. I noticed that the potatoes would start to puff in the first fry, and then deflate, they would even hiss as they cooled down.  I started to realized that if I just went directly into the hot oil they would go from kind of starting to puff, to fully puffed and never deflate.  All of a sudden I had the pillows I wanted, crunchy, crisp, and airy. I also was getting all of the potatoes to puff. In the earlier trials a few of the potatoes, like one out of 50, would really puff up, but most would just kind of half-puff. There was one exception to the no-resting-double-fry technique, the carola potatoes never puffed as much as the russets, not even close. Check it out.

Two frying pots!

Above: carolas right russets left

Here, on the right, is the close-up of the not so great puff of the carola, everything above is russet, little potato pillows!

Oh, and if you don't have a use for the trim from the ring cut potatoes, just fry them crisp at 310F the whole time and then cover in an egg(knoll krest farm) and cheese(gouda parrano), this was my roommates late-night snack while I was trying to figure out how to get the potatoes to puff.


No matter how you fry them, potatoes are going to taste pretty good after getting some hot oil treatment. I had to eat a lot of mediocre ones during these trials, but I didn't mind.  If you want the specific taste and texture of a souffléed potato then I hope my experience with them helps you along the way.

Let me know what you think!
Have you noticed I have a hard time formating pictures so they fit with the text!? I would appreciate some help.

As always,

Adam