double layered soufflé

I didn’t get any pictures of this meal, so I’m using the one from the website.  My “soufflé” dish (did YOU know that’s what it was?) was dirty being used for something else so I used my 8x8” Pyrex.

When making this recipe be forewarned ~ it takes about 1½ hours to bake, so make sure you have enough time.  I did not, so we ended up eating at 7:00.  Oh well, there are just some nights like that I guess.

I found this recipe at my mom’s house while Littlest had a heyday in her kitchen, sniffing out candy and cookies and drinking up all her orange juice.  I was looking through a copy of Taste of Home about inventive ways to use your Thanksgiving dinner leftovers.  I don’t know why I was looking through those recipes ~ other than the fact that I’m a recipophile or whatever you call recipe-obsessors ~ since my husband gets upset if I make anything with his leftovers.  He likes them just the way they are.  But I found this recipe and the woman who sent it in (Sharon Amidon from Guthrie Oklahoma) says that she uses chicken to make it if she doesn’t have any turkey.  Well, you know me and canned chicken.  (What can I say, I love the ease and convenience.  Don’t judge me!)  Anyway, it sounded good, so I came home and made it.

Double Layered Soufflé

serves 8

tasteofhome.com

6 eggs

¼ cup butter, cubed

1 cup chopped fresh mushrooms

¼ cup all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon salt

2 cups milk

3 cups cubed cooked turkey breast

Soufflé layer:

1/3 cup butter, cubed

1 shallot, finely chopped

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon salt

1½ cups milk

1 package (10 ounces) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry

1½ cups (6 ounces) shredded Swiss cheese

Separate eggs; let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.  Grease a 2½-quart soufflé dish and lightly sprinkle with flour; set aside.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet over medium-high heat, melt butter.  Add mushrooms; sauté until tender.  Stir in flour and salt until blended; gradually whisk in milk.  Bring to a boil, stirring constantly; cook and stir for 2-3 minutes or until thickened.  Add turkey; heat through.  Transfer to prepared dish.

For soufflé layer, in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, melt butter.  Add shallot; sauté until tender.  Stir in flour and salt until blended; gradually whisk in milk.  Bring to a boil, stirring constantly; cook and stir for 2-3 minutes or until thickened.  Transfer to a large bowl; stir in spinach and cheese.

Stir a small amount of hot spinach mixture into egg yolks; return all to the bowl, stirring constantly.  Allow to cool slightly.

In a large bowl with clean beaters, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form.  With a spatula, stir a fourth of the egg whites into spinach mixture until no white streaks remain.  Fold in remaining egg whites until combined.  Pour over turkey layer.

Bake at 325° for 1¼ to 1½ hours or until the top is puffed and center appears set.  Serve immediately.

Here are my changes:  I used this instead of the turkey, as we have already established, and canned mushrooms instead of fresh.  I also actually had a shallot (maybe the first to enter my house in the almost 11 years we’ve lived here) but I used it in the pulled pork enchiladas, since I didn’t have any onions.  Boo!  So I fell back on onion powder as usual, adding a little granulated garlic for good measure.  It did make the sauce a little thicker, so if you follow my example, be aware of that.  (Not bad thicker, just thicker.  I actually think I liked it thicker.)  I also didn’t have any Swiss cheese, so I used about 1 cup of shredded cheddar jack and ½ a cup of stinky cheese (what my family calls this).  And I used season salt instead of boring old plain salt.  It still tasted a little bland to me.  Not sure what I need to do next time to make it taste a little better.  My husband smothered it in ketchup (as he does all eggs and eggish meals) and liked it considerably.  All of the kidlettes seemed to like it very well too.  Maybe it’s just me...