This month, fans tried their hands at Julia Child's cheese soufflé, a baked egg-based dish that originated in early eighteenth century France, in honor of National Dairy Month. Tiffani Faison, celebrity chef and owner of Sweet Cheeks, Tiger Mama, and Fool's Errand in Boston, helped us to kick off the cheesey challenge and offered some of her pro tips for making your soufflé a success. Our panel of judges were blown away by the creativity and cooking chops displayed in all of the submissions, but a few rose above the rest. Here are our favorites, with their thoughts on each:
Best Presented: Max T.
Max T. says: [Editor's note: post has been condensed for clarity] "If cooking oil officiated the wedding between a Cheese Fondue and a Raclette through deep-frying, then the offspring of that holy Swiss matrimony is none other than the decadent Malakoff... For a turophile-home cook like me, the Malakoff, despite its absence in Julia Child's books, is a MUST-HAVE and a MUST-TRY in any culinary and gastronomic bucket list because its recipe is where Julia's advice of fearlessness and fun in trying new recipes shines through based on my personal experience. The main ingredients of a Malakoff are Gruyère cheese, eggs, garlic, nutmeg, kirsch, and white wine cradled in a round slice of white bread. (I used Julia's recipe of Pan de Mie from Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume II for the sake of retaining her influence and legacy on me.) At first glance, the demi-globe structure of the Malakoff shaped by the bowl side of the spoon appears problematic because the cook may encounter difficulty flipping it over during deep frying out of fear that the Gruyère cheese batter will separate from the white bread base. To think, there are even no breadcrumbs to coat the hemispherical cheese batter and keep it intact with the bread. However, I was quite surprised that it did not turn out that way when I made Malakoffs in 2016. In fact, my jaw dropped in awe when I witnessed the dome geometry and the weight of the batter actually facilitating the Malakoff to turn itself over immediately upon contact with the deep hot oil that it fries to golden brown upside down with the curved side submerged in the oil and the bread rises to the oil surface while suspending the cheese batter!!! The sight was truly magical for a single Malakoff that I tried again with another sample to test the reproducibility of the phenomenon with similar end results (an applied case of Julia's teaching on operational proof). When time finally came to eat my creation with cornichons and pickled onions (which is what the Swiss do), I got ecstatic as I saw the hot molten cheese flowing smoothly after slicing the Malakoff in half. Truly an unforgettable cooking and dining experience!
Our judges say: "He attained a perfect golden brown — you can tell it will have a perfect crispness straight from the photo."
Best Effort: Anna R.
Anna R. says: "Julia Child's cheese soufflé for dinner for me and Clarence Richardson for this month's WGBH #YouAndJulia Challenge! Can't wait to see what we're making in July. Who wants to come over and cook with me?"
Our judges say: "We love the step-by-step photos she submitted and we're thrilled to have someone looking forward to future months of You & Julia Challenges as much as we are."
One We Want to Try: Max T.
Max T. says: "As a dairy product, cheese is so highly versatile that its role as a main ingredient extends beyond savory appetizers and main courses. That is, cheese makes a sweet grandiose dessert finale in the form of a cheesecake, and one of the most beautiful and delicious cheesecakes I have discovered is Vanilla-Hazelnut Cheesecake, which is a recipe by Alice Medrich from the book, Baking with Julia by Julia Child and Dorie Greenspan. The main cheeses from this cheesecake are a low-fat small-curd cottage cheese and the Neufchâtel cheese. Being the low-fat French ancestor of the American cream cheese, Neufchâtel cheese is a moist and creamy fresh white cheese from the town of Neufchâtel-en-Bray in eastern Normandy. According to the book, French Regional Cooking by Anne Willan, the Normans of Neufchatel-en-Bray would usually make and sell their iconic cheese products in the shape of hearts. Gastronomically speaking, what makes the Neufchâtel cheese work in a cheesecake is how its thick paste-like texture underneath its rind and its piquant taste respectively complement the silky cottage cheese pureé and the sweetness of the sugar. At the same time, the fragrance of vanilla (I used Madagascar vanilla bean paste) and hazelnut paste (prepared from grinding the praline of roasted hazelnuts) powerfully perfumes the yeasty aroma of Neufchâtel that all I can savor is the nutty and buttery flavor of the cheese. If a Vanilla-Hazelnut Cheesecake comes from a heart-shaped cheese, then that dessert must be truly worthy of love. P.S. Aside from using two types of cheese, the cheesecake has two types of cake batter, both of which contained Neufchâtel and cottage cheese. The vanilla batter serves as a base, while the hazelnut batter provides the swirls needed for the marbleized pattern on the cake top."
Our judges say: "We love the elegant swirling technique and the photo makes you want to take a bite!"
Check out all of this month's submissions @WGBHBoston on Facebook, and stay tuned for next month's challenge!
