Barefoot Bloggers - Blue Cheese Souffle

This was a great base recipe that really lent itself to tweaking to meet my (in my husband's words "fat nazi") requirements. I'm really not that bad, all things in moderation, and where there are strong flavors, like the blue cheese in this recipe using a huge amount is not necessary. So, here's our version adapted from Ina! I will say that Ina's recipe is for one large souffle, but since it's just the two of us here in the Beviamo house (and we don't own a large souffle dish), I cut the recipe down to two individual servings.

Blue Cheese Souffle
Adapted from: Ina Garten

1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup parmesean cheese
1 1/2 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup 1% milk
Salt & pepper to taste
Pinch freshly grated nutmeg
Pinch cayenne pepper
2 large eggs
2 egg whites
Pinch cream of tartar
1-2 oz. good quality blue cheese (we used Danish blue)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray 2 small ramekins with cooking spray and sprinkle with 1/2 of the grated parmesean cheese. Shake to coat, and shake out excess. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat until bubbling, then add flour and wisk to combine. Cook for 1-2 minutes, and turn heat to medium. Add milk (room temperature is best) to flour mixture, wisking continuously. Add salt, pepper, nutmeg and cayenne pepper. Continue wisking mixture over low heat until it is smooth and has thickened, about 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat and add the two whole eggs, slowly, while wisking continuously (you don't want scrambled eggs!). Add remaining parmesean cheese along with the blue cheese, wisking until the cheese has melted and combined.

In a separate bowl using a stand or electric hand mixer, beat the remaining egg whites until foamy, then add cream of tartar and beat until the whites hold stiff peaks. Fold the whites into the egg/flour mixture in three increments, being sure to fold the whites carefully so you don't remove all the air. Once combined, divide the mixture between the two ramekins, place both ramekins on a baking sheet and place in the oven (middle rack). Bake 20-25 minutes or until puffy and golden on top. Don't cheat and open the oven while the souffles are cooking, they are so light from the egg white that even a little draft can cause them to sink :(