Make-ahead Cheese Souflee with Orange/Grapefruit Spinach Salad

You can assemble this souflee as much as three hours before baking time, which makes for a more relaxed preparation. I know one woman who freezes her assembled souflees for as long as several days before baking them, and the results are perfectly beautiful and delicious. A souflee isn't as difficult or temperamental as its reputation would have you believe. Most important is that all ingredients, including the eggs, should be at room termperature before you begin.  Also crucial is that the egg whites are beaten until firm enough to stand in peaks and folded very gently into the souflee with a rubber or plastic spatula so they do not lose aeration. If you are using a mixer or a non-copper bowl to beat the egg whites, add a pinch of cream of tartar when the eggs begin to get foamy. This adds the acidity that a copper bowl provides naturally, and allows the eggs to rise and become stable.

The one demand a souflee does make is that it must be served immediately. Puncture the top with a spoon and fork, making sure each serving has some of the soft center and the crusty exterior (you may use either one large baking dish or individual dishes).

This recipe is for a classic cheese souflee, but you could add chopped vegetables, chicken, seafood, or ham -- a souflee is a great vehicle for leftovers!

Cheese Souflee

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sifted flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon paprika
dash cayenne
2 cups milk
1/2 pound sharp cheddar cheese, cubed
8 egg yolks
8 egg whites

Remove the top oven rack (to allow room for the souflee to rise) and preheat oven to 475.

To prepare the baking dish, butter bottom and sides well, then coat the surfaces with grated cheese.

Melt the butter in the top of a double boiler over boiling water. Add flour, salt, paprika, and cayenne. Mix well, and stir in milk. Stir constantly until sauce is thick. Add small cubes of cheese and stir until cheese melts. Remove from heat.

Beat egg yolks until they are light, and slowly pour yolks into cheese sauce stirring constantly.

Wash beater thoroughly -- even a speck of yolk can spoil the egg whites.

Beat egg whites until stiff but not dry. Fold cheese sauce into egg whites. Pour into baking dish.

(At this point you can refrigerate for up to three hours. Remove about 20 minutes before baking.)

Bake for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 400 and bake for 25 minutes.

Orange/Grapefruit Spinach Salad

Arrange orange and grapefruit segments on top of trimmed baby spinach. Drizzlle with simple vinaigrette: 3 parts olive oil to 1 part vinegar (or a combination of vinegar and lemon juice), blended with a sweet or honey mustard.