Archives

Post & Courier
Nathalie Dupree – Chicken Wings
By Sarah Bates September 22, 2010
Nathalie cooks up some tasty and easy chicken wings for any occasion.

A pot of soup, a loaf of Bread,
the Best of Wine, Cheese and Olive Oil, and a Fearless Cook

Whenever I can I read the New York Times “Portraits of Grief,” a daily series of personal glimpses of the victims of the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center. I am not aware of anyone I know having been there. I am instead searching for a common connection, bonds of brotherhood, perhaps– and the need for putting names and faces to my nameless, faceless grief. Last week, the headline “a Fearless Cook” caught me unawares and I found my heart beating as I searched the photographs and word portraits.

Every cook’s most asked question is, “What is your favorite dish,” and most of us answer something different each time — according to the weather, the company, the occasion, our mood, and the ear of the inquirer. In truth, most of us do want to be remembered for some special food, something that will be spoken of when memories are shared about us. And we wish that every meal could make its mark, could reach for the sky in its perfection. In the South, women are known for the specialties they bring to funerals and church suppers — Aunt Ruth’s carrot cake, or MaMa Dupree’s caramel cake– without which an occasion would not be complete.

Ribollita is just such a fitting memorial for Lydia Estelle Bravo, who died at the World Trade Center. The mention of it brings up memories of comforting food shared by large groups of laughing people, whether in a café or sitting around a long table in a Tuscan farm house. Ms. Bravo loved cooking, even taking cooking lessons at Peter Kump’s (Sic) New York Cooking School. Her fiance said she cooked Ribollita in their New York apartment the night before she died , accompanied by some Sangiovese wine.

A specialty of Tuscany in Central Italy and the heart of the Cianti region, Ribollita varies every time you eat it, tomatoes dominating in their season , and a special Italian green leafy vegetable (“Cavelo Nero”)and cabbage as it heads into the fall. (I use a mixture of collard greens and cabbage and it works just fine.) It is, simply put, vegetable soup, reboiled (“Ribollita” means just that , with the additional caveat of “cooked a long time” built into its definition) and served over the traditional unsalted Tuscan bread in the bottom of a dish, then sprinkled with an extra virgin olive oil, and perhaps Parmegiano Reggiano, the unique cheese from Parma, Italy. Usually ribollita is eaten with Tuscan’s special wine, Chianti Classico, which by Italy’s legal definition is primarily made from Sangiovese grapes. Since many of the vineyards that grow the Sangiovese grapes for Chianti Classico also grow olives and bottle their own olive oil, the whole meal – the wine, the extra virgin olive oil and the cheese, makes a completely compatible experience. The best of everything.

Sometimes the bread breaks up enough to make a thick soup eaten with a fork. Other times, its vegetable broth reigns, and a spoon is used. Nothing else is needed, except good friends and loved ones.

Now, as I recall the number of times I ate Ribollita in Tuscany last summer, another face comes into my mind, that of a stranger, a women who so loved life that she cooked the food she loved and God gave the grace to cook it the night before she died. May I make every meal for my loved ones as memorable as this one was . And when I cook, as I will today, I will bless the food as I cook it, rather than at the table, and think of her.

La Ribollita

This recipe is not meant to be followed exactly – omit or add as you like, including water, to get the flavor and texture you like with the ingredients you have at hand. Leftovers refrigerate well for several days, or freeze.

¼ – ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 finely chopped onion
1 medium leek (optional)
1-2 finely chopped garlic cloves
8 ounces red cabbage, shredded
8 ounces Savoy cabbage or collard greens , shredded
1-2 peeled chopped carrots. optional
1-2 peeled celery stalks (minus leaves), optional
2-4 cups drained canned cannellini or white northern beans
1 cup canned peeled tomatoes, coarsely chopped, with their juice
Freshly ground pepper
Salt
1 slice good crusty Italian bread for each serving
1-2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmgiano-Reggiano for each serving
Basil, parsley or other fresh herbs, chopped

Heat a heavy casserole or soup pan over medium heat. Add the olive oil and when hot add the onion, leek and garlic. Cook until soft. Add the cabbage, collards, carrots, celery, drained canned beans, and tomatoes with their juice. Season with pepper and salt. Add 5 cups of water and bring to the (sic) boil. When it is boiling, reduce the heat to a simmer. Cover and cook for 1-2 hours, according to your taste. (Many Italians like it almost creamy. Others like it when you can tell the beans are beans.)

Lightly toast or grill the bread, or use stale bread, and tear into big pieces, some in the bottom of each soup bowl. Ladle the hot soup over the bread and let it stand for about 5 minutes. Just before serving, drizzle a little of the olive oil over each serving and sprinkle with the Parmiagiano-Reggiano cheese and fresh herbs if desired..

September 18, 2009

This morning I saw Carolina Gold harvested, the dew still on the ground. Some people want gold metal, I wanted to see the Gold of novels and books, the heart of the culture of the state of South Carolina for centuries. One look at the field of rice makes clear the reason for the name,Carolina Gold. The most coveted and sought after rice of those centuries is golden, riding on a sea of tall green stalks. The rice’s gold signifies it is the right time to start to dry the rice. The stalks are removed with a hook (a scythe) leaving a foot or so of stubble that will be turned back into the ground later. The sheaths of rice are then spread on top of the stubble to dry before being collected. At one time it would have been harvested starting at four in the morning, to beat the heat of the day, after a cold breakfast. August was the usual time in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, according to the meticulous records the planters kept – detailing dialing weather and rainfall, among other things. Thomas Jefferson loved this rice, his favorite among 98 varieties he collected. (Stories abound about people coming up to him and slipping rice into his pockets. Finally the planters had to tell him to stop sending new varieties – they liked what they had.) The fields have been flooded with fresh water and drained three times. Now it is up to the sun. At Middleton, historically dressed workers scythe the tall grasses that were formerly worked by slaves. Charleston, once the richest city in America, had a population that was more slaves than whites. When South Carolina was at its richest, the rice most plentiful, the economy collapsed with the aftermath of the civil war. Makes me think about the adage about riding high before a fall. Feels similar to the economy’s collapse last year.

Demonstrations will be held the next two Saturdays at Middleton. Contact them for more information.

Culinary Institue of Charleston
November 6,7,8

Spend a weekend in learning at the Culinary Institue of Charleston with culinary guru Nathalie Dupree in November. Kick things off Southern style with wine and cheese at Nathalie’s home Friday before dining at a restaurant of your choice. Then join Nathalie for two days of holiday entertaining classes at the Culinary Institute of Charleston’s downtown Palmer Campus. She’ll teach you how to make your holidays easy and fun by learning to get organized for them, with equally helpful recipes and tips, from what to make ahead to how to get the dishes done! Course meets 6-8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6 at Nathalie’s home and then 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 7 and 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 8 at the Culinary Institute of Charleston at Palmer Campus. Cost is $599. For more information, contact Michele Shinn at 843.574.6655 or michele.shinn@​tridenttech.edu.

Southern Chef Series at Serenbe Welcomes Nathalie Dupree

October 11-14

Nathalie Dupree joins Marie Nygren and the Inn at Serenbe for the first “Southern Chef Series” at Serenbe. She will be teaching “Mastering the Art of Southern Cooking” to a group of 10 participants. Days will be spent with Nathalie, learning her favorite southern recipes and cooking tips, plus hearing personal stories of her many cooking adventures. And, naturally, enjoying great food and the relaxing atmosphere of the Inn at Serenbe.

For reservation information, please call the Inn at Serenbe at 770.463.2610.

August 20,2009

The crabs were not cooked in stale spices, but instead just cooked in an iron pot over a stove.  Every once in a while Matt or Ted would fish out a few with a long tong that belonged to Tom and I wish I owned, and throw the crabs on the table.  We would pounce on them, as they were just a few hours old.  So fresh they melted in your mouth.  No need for hot sauce or butter or anything else.  Just crab.  We cracked away until we were sated.

The table was under a live oak tree that would rival any, providing shade and a background that was extraordinary.  After a while the crabber joined us that had caught the crab that morning.  He is also a shrimper, and immediately fell in love with Mary Alice, who has just finished a best selling book on shrimping. 

That night, my Les Dames d’ Escoffier group here in Charleston hosted a cake party as a fund raiser after a showing of Julie and Julia.  Everyone had such a good time, and there were some mighty good cakes there.  I brought chocolate snowball, covered in whipping cream, and it was as popular as any! 

To see how to crack and eat a crab, go to postandcourier.com.  Hit video and food, and you’ll see me. The okra shot is pretty terrific, by the way, shot in an okra field. 

My article for the postandcourier.com for this week is crab as well, if you want some recipes!

Making Pasta

 

Pasta making-side bar.

 

You don’t have to be a chef to make pasta – in fact, it is child’s play. My grandchildren love making pasta in my tiny kitchen. (I have noticed, however, that in their minds, the more flour strewn around, the better, as far as they are concerned.)

 

There are many types of pasta makers around, but basically they fall into three kinds: hand rolled and shaped (i.e., grandmothers); machine rolled and shaped; extruded. The two best kind are the hand rolled and shaped and the pasta machine rolled and shaped. I have never been fond of extruded pastas, or the devilish machines that go with the process, including gadgets added to expensive mixers.

 

Hand rolled pastas include phyllo dough, rarely made by machine, and strudel dough, which are great fun as well to do with children, but may be a bit frustrating the first time around. They are more usually made just with flour and water, so tend to be a bit tougher due to over handling by beginners. They are also rolled thinner than traditional (what we think of as Italian) pasta and won ton wrappers.

 

The little machines that knead, roll, and cut into shapes are available for anywhere from under fifty dollars up, and at such diverse places as Target and Williams and Sonoma. It is not necessarily true that you get what you pay for – cheaper ones are frequently as good for a small batch. Usually the more expensive ones are marginally larger.

 

To make pasta dough, flour and liquid (or egg) and/or fat (like olive oil) are kneaded thoroughly until smooth and elastic. This can be done by hand or in a food processor or mixer or through the largest slot in the pasta machine (after you have formed a rough dough.) The crucial part is to rest the dough to allow it to stretch. The minimum is 20 minutes, but frequently I make my dough the night before and let it rest overnight at room temperature. (If using egg rather than water, use your own judgment, but remember pasta is always cooked so there should be only a small of concern.) I wrap my dough in plastic wrap or place it in an oiled plastic bag.

 

It is then stretched or rolled by hand or by putting through consecutively smaller slots in the machine. It is then cut by hand or through the various gadgets that can be attached to a machine. (The more gadgets, the more expensive.)

 

To see children at work making pasta, go to my website, www.Nathaliedupree.com to view my grandchildren.

 

C’est Fromage Comte Cheese worth the fare to France

 

Foodies, of which I am one, pride themselves on knowing the newest thing. Many times, ironically, these are age-old products that are just coming to the attention of communities beyond their own. I first heard of Comte cheese when I was given a sample at a local grocery store. I thought it tasted like Gruyere, only better. Indeed, as I found out, all Comtes are Gruyeres, but not all Gruyeres are Comtes.

 

Since the Middle Ages, the Franche-Comte region of France has produced only enough Comte (pronounced cont-A) cheese for itself. It was so popular there that there was no push to export it. Only a small portion was shared with the rest of France, or the world, until recent years, which is why all I knew was Gruyere.

 

I’d never been to this region before, and I was eager to go. I have made so many foodie trips with my friend, Marilyn Harris, that I can’t count them all. Sometimes, we just eat. Other times, we try to gather some information, as we did this time.

The region is above Lyon, to the right of Dijon and Paris and abuts Switzerland. The fast train from Paris to Besancon, the capital of Franche-Comte, took less than three hours, giving us plenty of time to see the green, lush countryside, fields of bright yellow canola flowers, cows in flower-studded grasses, citadels and castles, mountains, rivers (full of pike, pikeperch and whitefish) and waterfalls.

 

We stayed a bit out of town, on our first night eating in Bescancon at Mango Park Restaurant, where we had amazing food, with Comte in every course, made by a woman chef. This is where we ate a cheese custard flan, which I’ve tried to duplicate here. The small custard was not sauced up, but was just firm enough to stand on its own, melting in my mouth yet having a little give from the cheese. It was the first thing I had to try to make when I returned.

 

FLAVORED MILK

These dishes are enhanced greatly by flavoring the milk. Heat the required measurement of milk in a heavy saucepan with a variety of flavorings until the milk has bubbled around the edges. Let it sit until needed, strain and use or refrigerate.

For instance:

 

1 small shallot sliced in half

2 cloves of garlic peeled and whole

A sachet of your favorite herbs, such as parsley, thyme and oregano

Six black peppercorns

 

COMTE CHEESE FLAN

Small white custard cups worked fine the first time we tested this, but the ideal mold and shape turned out to be one of the new Le Creuset Cook ‘n Bake orange silicone molds. This one was borrowed from Le Creuset. The instructions make it clear you should never put the mold straight on the rack, so my assistant and I put it in a roasting pan. We filled the molds with the filling, then carefully poured water around them. We were able to pop the little custards out onto our hands, then put them down on the plates.

 

Comte Cheese Flan

3/4 cup heavy whipping cream or milk

3 large eggs

1-1/4 cups grated Comte or Gruyere cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

 

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Lightly mix cream (or milk; flavoring optional) with the eggs in a medium-size bowl. Stir in the cheese and season to taste. Spread a kitchen towel over the bottom of a deep baking pan (to prevent overbaking). Arrange six custard cups or soufflé dishes on top of the towel. Pour your flan mixture evenly between the six dishes. Place discs of buttered wax paper on the top of each mixture to prevent skins from forming. Fill the baking pan with water to halfway up the sides of the molds and move to the oven carefully. Bake until the centers of the flan are set and a knife comes out clean, approximately 30 minutes, avoiding boiling the flans. Serves 2-3 as a main course.

 

COMTE CHEESE FONDUE

 

One Frenchman said to me, “Cheese fondues don’t have to have a good cook. Good cheese and good wine will do.”

 

I remember well my first cheese fondues. I had to scurry around to three stores and find Kirsch liquor (a French cherry brandy), a specific kind of white wine and two kinds of cheeses, Emmentaler and Gruyere. The recipes that came in the little booklet with Swiss maids in full skirts dancing on the cover offered no alternative. This was cheese fondue, and nothing else. Sometimes it worked, and sometimes it didn’t.

 

Like any food that transcends borders, it turns out the Swiss don’t have a monopoly on cheese fondue. On our trip, we ate two radically different fondues. We wanted to see the tiny town Arbois, where Louis Pasteur lived in his childhood and returned in his later life. It was a chilly day, so we ordered fondue in the tiny cheese/gourmet shop that had half a dozen tables. The shop owner and his wife wore many hats, taking the orders, cooking the food and manning the cash register. Our fondue was a combination of two local cheeses, Comte and Morbier, a cheese made with a layer of ashes in the middle. He used no Kirsch, just a French Chardonnay for the liquid.

 

Our second fondue was within walking distance to Switzerland, in a wacky rural restaurant with two teepees outside for people who wanted to stay there. (Not me.) We sat outdoors in the sun on a wooden bench, next to an affectionate cat, while we were waiting for our food.

 

This fondue had garlic, dried local morels, local smoked bacon, Comte cheese, Chardonnay, Kirsch and cornstarch. It was made in an iron-skillet-type pan before being transferred to a fondue pot. I liked it, but I liked our first one better since I am all for simplicity.

 

Here is my recipe for fondue, which we first melted in a heavy Le Creuset saucepan and then kept hot in a borrowed Le Creuset fondue pot. Heavy is the key word. A flimsy pot for melting or keeping warm may burn the cheese or cause it to separate.

 

I see no sense in buying a brandy to use a few times a year, so unless you know you are going to make a lot of fondue, omit the brandy and spend your money on a wine you’ll enjoy both cooking with your fondue and drinking.

 

Easy Cheese Fondue

1 clove garlic, halved crosswise

1-1/2 cups white wine, such as Chardonnay

1 tablespoon cornstarch

4 cups grated Comte or Gruyere cheese (see cook’s note)

 

Cook’s note: Any creamy, rich white cheese will do. I also have used Emmentaler cheese.)

 

Rub the bottom and sides of a medium-weight saucepot with the garlic and then discard. Add the wine and bring it to a simmer over moderate heat. Meanwhile, stir the cornstarch with a teaspoon of water or a splash of wine to make a slurry. After the wine has reached a simmer, use a zigzag motion and gradually add the cheese. (Circular strokes will leave you with clumpy cheese balls rather than a silky-smooth fondue!) Once all of the cheese has been melted, give your cornstarch mixture another stir and add it to the mixture.

 

Bring the fondue back to a slow simmer for 5 minutes or until it has reached a light boil and has thickened. Transfer to a fondue pot equipped with a lighted candle or Sterno can.

 

Serve fondue with crusty French or Italian white bread cut into cubes. Each cube should have some crust attached. Spear the bread through the crust and dip into the cheese sauce to coat before eating. Apple and pear slices, meat and/or vegetables also may be used for dipping.

 

This recipe was developed by my apprentice, Elle Lien. It’s a good way to move into summer.

 

Elle’s Tomato Tart

3 to 4 tomatoes

3 eggs

1 cup milk (preferably flavored with herbs, peppercorns and the greens of two spring onions)

1 cup grated Comte or Gruyere cheese

1 pie crust

 

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a pot, bring enough water to cover the tomatoes to a boil; add tomatoes and roll with a spoon 10-20 seconds. Remove tomatoes from the water and rinse in cold water to cool. Peel off the skins and cut into 1/2-inch slices. Remove seeds. Sprinkle tomatoes with salt and let them sweat for 10 minutes. Pat dry.

 

Meanwhile, mix together the eggs, room-temperature milk and cheese. Arrange two layers of tomatoes in the bottom of your pie crust and pour the liquid mixture to fill. Bake on a tray in the oven for 15 minutes. Check the tart, covering the pie crust edges with foil to prevent burning if necessary. Reduce heat to 300 degrees and continue baking until the top of the tart is golden brown and a knife comes away clean from the center, about 45 minutes. Serves 4 for lunch or use as a starter.

 

LIGHT-AS-AIR SOUFFLE

Soufflés are so much easier to make than most people think. They are just sauces to which flavorings, egg yolks and beaten egg whites are added before baking. They may be assembled in advance and baked shortly before serving. It is better to underbake a soufflé, as an overbaked one will collapse and an underbaked one can be returned to the oven to complete cooking.

 

Tip: Every soufflé dish is different. If a dish is too large, it will appear the soufflé didn’t rise. If it is too small, the soufflé will spill over and a paper collar must be tied around the dish and secured with string to keep in the soufflé in while baking. Ideally, the soufflé mixture will be a quarter inch from the top of the dish. Cheese Souffle

Butter and breadcrumbs for preparing soufflé dish

 

31⁄2 tablespoons butter

4 tablespoons flour

11⁄2 cups milk (preferably flavored)

3⁄4 cup grated Comte or Gruyere cheese

1⁄4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

1 teaspoon prepared mustard

Pinch of nutmeg

Dash of cayenne pepper

6 egg yolks

8 egg whites

1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Make sure there is room between the rack and the top of the oven for the soufflé to rise. Place a baking sheet that will hold the soufflé in the oven. Prepare a 6-cup soufflé dish by buttering it and sprinkling breadcrumbs around the sides and bottom.

 

Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the flour and stir until a roux has formed. Stir in the milk and continue stirring until the sauce is smooth and comes to a boil. Remove from the heat, add the cheeses, mustard and seasonings, then the egg yolks, one at a time, mixing them in as you go.

 

This can be made well in advance and kept in the refrigerator.

 

If you choose to use this shortcut, reheat the mixture to lukewarm (no hotter as to not curdle your yolks) before using. Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, preferably copper, whisk together the egg whites and cream of tartar to firm peaks. Fold about 1 cup of egg whites into the warm sauce. Pour the sauce over the remaining egg whites and fold in lightly. Pile the soufflé concoction into the soufflé dish and smooth. Turn down the oven to 375 degrees and place the soufflé on the preheated baking sheet, which will give it a boost. Bake for 25 minutes and test for doneness. It should have only a slight jiggle, and a knife inserted should come out with a little sauce on it from the interior. Remove from oven. Remove collar if necessary. Serve immediately.

 

If not cooked thoroughly, put back in oven. If the soufflé collapses, run a knife around the rim, place a plate over the soufflé, turn over, give it a hard shake, and it should fall out, free form, and stand on its own. Serve it as is, with no explanation.

Serves 6.

Pasta

 

Recently I went to dinner with a friend who instructed the chef not to serve her anything white – no white bread, no white pasta, no potatoes, no rice and no cream. She would eat butter. I don’t know if this is, in fact, due to an allergy, or is a self-imposed way of dieting by avoiding carbs and cream.

 

Whatever the reason, I couldn’t do it. Pasta is one of my favorite meals, and I rejoice in all the kinds now available. When I grew up it was spaghetti – unless you consider macaroni and cheese pasta, which it is, but that certainly never occurred to me until I was an adult.

 

I always feel more secure when there is a pan of lasagna in the freezer. Even company appreciates it when they come in from out of town and hungry, or on Sunday night when they have nothing in their own refrigerators to eat.

 

Fresh pasta is not always the best. In fact, I think many dried pastas are better, particularly for spaghetti. Lasagna is heavenly made with fresh noodles, but is truly an affectation for those with more time than sense. But ravioli’s and many of the other shapes are now not only made commercially but are also available in retail stores made in smaller quantities.

 

I purchased a pumpkin ravioli, for instance, from Burbages’ grocery, and another similarly filled one from Whole Foods. All they needed was a delicate sauce to complete them, and a salad or green vegetable, to make a whole meal. A wonderful answer to a “desperation meal” for the two of us, particularly since lettuce is growing outside my front door.

 

Oh, and about that white food – I figured out a way around it. Most of these pastas come in different colors as well. What could be better than spinach fettuccine or lasagna? Or a multi-colored pasta like cartwheels or tortellini? One caveat for all pasta recipes. In Italy it is served before the main course, as opposed to a main course itself. And, in the South, it can be, like Mac n’ Cheese, a side as well as a main course. Let knowledge of your eaters be your guide to the question: “How much?”

 

Hot Chocolate Soufflé

 

Adapted from Nathalie Dupree’s Chocolate Soufflé

 

Serves 4 to 6

 

Soufflés are not difficult to make or magical, but they seem that way to the uninitiated. Guests are always thrilled by them. The trick is to avoid overcooking them as the bubbles will burst and the soufflé will fall. An undercooked soufflé, on the other hand, may be removed from the oven and served, then placed back in the oven if need be. It is important to have serving plates ready and the guests eagerly awaiting the soufflé. I can’t stress enough how different every soufflé dish

Is. They range in size dramatically. The time will have to be adjusted to the size of the dish.

 

To Make a Souffle

 

•A soufflé base may be made a day or two in advance, and baked when ready to serve.

Before baking. If made ahead more than a few hours, use one more egg white to assure volume. Placing the soufflé dish on a metal pan in the oven will give the rise a boost. Be sure to remove the top rack from the oven so the soufflé may rise.

 

2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

5 1/2 tablespoons sugar, divided between the base and the whites

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate bits, preferably Ghirardelli

4 egg yolks

6 egg whites

Confectioners’ sugar

 

Chocolate Sauce

1/2 cup heavy cream

3 heaping tablespoons semisweet chocolate bits, preferably Ghiradelli

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 1½-quart (about 5 cups) soufflé dish with 1/2 tablespoon butter and coat with some of the sugar. Make a paper collar, and butter and sugar it, too.

Stir milk into the cornstarch in a pan until smooth. Bring to the boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, and add the chocolate to the cornstarch mixture along with 2 tablespoons of the butter and 3 tablespoons of the sugar. Stir until the butter and chocolate are melted, putting back over low heat if necessary. Make sure all the bits have melted. Remove from the heat, and stir in the egg yolks, 1 at a time. May be prepared ahead to this point and covered with plastic wrap.

 

Whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form. Fold in 2 tablespoons sugar, and beat to stiff, shiny peaks. Stir 3 or 4 tablespoons of the egg white mixture into the soufflé base to lighten it, and then fold this mixture into the egg whites, using a figure eight motion.

Pour the mixture into the prepared soufflé dish. Smooth the surface with a spatula. (May be prepared ahead to this point. Refrigerate if holding more than 1 hour. Bring back to room temperature before cooking.)

One half hour before serving, transfer the soufflé to a hot metal pan in the lower third of the hot oven with no rack above it. Bake for 25 minutes for a soft center, or 30 to 35 minutes for a firmer one. Serve at once sprinkled with the Confectioners’ sugar and accompanied by the sauce.

As the soufflé bakes, prepare the sauce by heating the cream in a heavy pan or in the microwave. When hot, add the chocolate and cook until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Set aside until needed. Will keep in the refrigerator 1 or 2 weeks, covered. Reheat over low heat or in the microwave if necessary.

 

Variation: Instead of using sugar to coat the soufflé dish, try crumbs from chocolate wafer cookies.

 

Tip: If soufflé falls and there isn’t much time, place the soufflé in the microwave for 10-second intervals until it rises again. Repeat as needed. Alternately, if time allows, if the soufflé hasn’t been overcooked, place the soufflé back into the oven until it rises once again.