By Jacques Reymond, Melbourne based Chef, Director at Bistro Gitan, L’HotelGitan and Turtle Island Resort in Fiji
Brief:
I created this recipe when my wife Kathy and I were running the family restaurant, L’Hôtel du Nord in the village where I was born, Cuiseaux in the beautiful region of Jura and Burgundy. Across the street from the restaurant was the cheese factory “La Fromagerie” where they made fresh fromage blanc every day and also the big wheels of gruyere. I wanted to create a recipe incorporating these two cheeses I used to eat everyday as a child and gave me so much pleasure.
We put this dish on the menu in 1988 when we opened the first Jacques Reymond Restaurant in Richmond. At the time fromageblance did not exist in Australia, I asked my friend Richard Thomas to make it for us and it was superb. Many years later Mathieu from L’Artisan cheese took over from Richard and was making his own fromageblanc but he has recently stopped so you might find it difficult to find. It can be replaced by cottage cheese and fresh ricotta cheese mixed together in equal quantity.
Recipe:
Delice Soufflé of Fromage Blanc
Ingredients:
For the Delice Soufflé of Fromage Blanc:
500 grams of fromageblanc
3 level tsps of cornflour
7 egg yolks
6 egg whites
200 grams gruyere or comtégratedcheese
Salt and pepper
A pinch of cream of tartar
For the Watercress Sauce:
200 mls vegetable broth
1large bunch of watercress(leaves only)
200 mls cream
Pinch of paprika
Salt and pepper
Method for Delice:
- Leave both cheesesout at room temperature for one hour.
- Gently fold the fromage blanc, cornflour, salt and pepper together,once incorporated add the egg yolks and the gruyere and combine very gently. Season.
- In a mixer whisk the egg whites and the cream of tartar to a medium soft peak. Once this is reached fold the egg whites in to the cheese mixture working it very, very gently.
- Generously butter the ramequins or dariolesmoulds and fill them to 1 cm from the top. Cook in an oven at 180°c in a water bath for approximately 30 minutes. They should be golden brown. Take the soufflés out of the water bath, unmould onto a plate, and serve with the watercress sauce.
Method for sauce:
- Pick leaves of watercress and blanch for 10 seconds in boiling water, do not refresh and blend to a purée.
- In a pot bring vegetable stock to the boil. Add the cream and simmer gently until the sauce has reduced by a quarter. Season with paprika, salt and pepper, process the sauce with a bamix to make it light and frothy, adding progressively the watercress purée.
Corporate Comm India (CCI Newswire)
