Tag bacon

Spend a Night In with this Halloween Recipe: Potato, Bacon and Roquefort Soufflé

Even on the spookiest of holidays, there’s nothing scarier than the nervous anticipation in watching and waiting to see if your soufflé will rise or collapse. But have no fear, the video below will help you perfect your yolk separation skills. Once your taste buds experience this divine Potato, Bacon and Roquefort Soufflé, you’ll want to whip it up for family and friends at every holiday get-together! Really, you just can’t go wrong with the comforting blend of bacon, potatoes and blue cheese — the perfect holiday comfort food!

So if you’re staying in for the night, then try this recipe, back away from the oven window, and relax (as much as you can) with a scary movie.

If you’re in the mood for something sweeter, don’t forget about one of the last treats we blogged about: Cheesecake Trifle with Salted Caramel Sauce and Nut Crumble

Happy Halloween!

Potato, Bacon and Roquefort Soufflés

Ingredients
Soufflé:
2 ½ pounds large Russet potatoes, peeled and sliced
1 Tablespoon kosher salt
3 ounces bacon, about 3 slices
1 cup heavy cream
5 ounces unsalted butter, divided
4 ½ ounces grated parmesan, about 1 cup, divided
6 eggs, separated
3 ounces Roquefort, crumbled
1 Tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, chopped
1 bunches fresh chives, chopped
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Hand mixer
Foil or ceramic ramekins

Methods/Steps
Start Cooking Potatoes: Add the sliced potatoes and salt to a large stock pot of water. Bring to a boil over high heat and cook until completely tender, about 15 minutes. Drain into a colander.

Cook Bacon: Preheat the oven to 400O F. Place bacon on a cooling rack then place onto a parchment lined sheet pan. Cook until crisp, about 12 minutes and let cool. Once cool, chop into 1/4” bits and transfer to a small bowl. Set aside.

Mash Potatoes: Using a food mill or ricer, mash the warm potatoes into a large bowl. Heat the cream and 4 ounces of butter in a sauce pan. When hot, pour over the mashed potatoes and stir to combine.

Prepare Ramekins: Grate the parmesan cheese. Place 3/4 cup of the cheese into the bowl of mashed potatoes. Butter the ramekins with the remaining butter. Dust the sides of the ramekins with the remaining grated parmesan cheese. Tap out the excess into the bowl of mashed potatoes. Place dusted ramekins onto a parchment lined sheet pan.

Separate and Beat Eggs: Separate eggs and place yolks into medium bowl and whites into a large bowl. Remove a 1/4 cup of yolks (about 2) and stir into the potatoes and give the remaining 4 yolks to the dessert team. Whip the egg whites with a hand mixer to soft peaks and set aside.

Make Soufflé Base: To the bowl of potatoes, mix in Roquefort, chopped bacon, thyme and chopped chives and pepper. Mix well.

Finish Soufflé: Gently fold 1/3 of the whipped egg whites into the mashed potato mixture. When incorporated, fold in the remaining egg white. Taste and add some salt if necessary. Fill each ramekin evenly and bake until golden and puffed, about 20 minutes. Let cool slightly and unmold soufflés onto dinner plate.

Serves/Makes
Makes about 12 Soufflés

Recipe created by Parties That Cook® | www.PartiesThatCook.com.

Parties That Cook’s Chicago Team Cookbook Club: Chicago Cooks: 25 Years of Chicago Culinary History

The Parties That Cook Blog has seen some wonderful guest posts in the past. We’re going to keep the tradition going with a recap of the most recent cookbook club meeting from our Chicago office! This installment of our Chicago Team’s Cookbook Club is brought to you by Chefs Heidi, Brandy, Liz and Molly. Thanks ladies!

After having to reschedule our book club due to the great snow storm of 2011 that hit Chicago a few weeks back, the PTC girls gathered at Brandy’s house. We were all very excited to review the book, Chicago Cooks: 25 Years of Chicago Culinary History and Great Recipes from Les Dames d’Escoffier. Unfortunately, our enthusiasm was quickly deflated.

We started with Heidi’s choice for the first course: Spicy Crab and Shrimp Rolls with Salsa. This was probably the best recipe that we reviewed because it was fairly easy and the flavors were quite good (paprika, saffron, cayenne and cumin). We often wondered if the recipes had been tested because the cooking times were incorrect on several recipes.  It took longer to cook these than the recipe indicated. Heidi also suggested doubling the cooking liquid and reserving it for dipping the rolls which would have been much better than a jarred salsa.

For our entrée, Brandy made Hickory Smoked Bacon Wrapped Rainbow Trout. This was a very simple recipe. The whole fish was stuffed with rosemary and wrapped in bacon. It was difficult to serve, but thanks to Molly and Brandy’s fabulous filleting abilities, we managed to plate it up. This is definitely not the recipe to serve when you want a beautiful presentation. We all agreed that it may have been easier to fillet the fish before cooking and wrapping each individual piece with bacon.

Alongside the fish, we served Liz’s Onion Flan. This recipe was completely off on yields and cooking times. Aside from that, it was your basic egg custard dish – similar to a quiche.


For dessert, Molly, our resident pastry Chef, made a decadent Chocolate Hazelnut Cake. We were all very impressed when Molly unveiled her cakes. They were worthy of sitting on the shelves of the finest bakeries in town. Molly later confessed that she dolled up the cakes that otherwise would have looked like hockey pucks (literally). She added a lovely Raspberry Buttercream, Raspberry Sauce, fresh Raspberries and a chocolate disc that she brought back from her recent trip to Switzerland. The cake recipe from the book was good, but Molly’s additions elevated it to 5 star restaurant quality! It was a decadent but surprisingly light dessert. To quote some of the girls, “It didn’t feel like a gut bomb”.

I think we all agreed that this Chicago Cooks book didn’t “cook” up enough interest to merit a purchase. Though not every cookbook reviewed is a success, this doesn’t stop us from wanting to try more in the future! Look out for the next guest post of Parties That Cook’s Chicago Cookbook Club! For more ideas on cooking parties in Chicago, or for hands-on cooking classes in Chicago, you know Parties That Cook is your go-to company!