A few days ago, I got it into my mind that I wanted to try making an oatmeal souffle for breakfast. I know this is not an original idea, but for the life of me I couldn’t think where I had heard of this concept before. Luckily we have the Internet, that bastion of all knowledge. I figured that the web would be full of recipes and that I’d be able to get the general gist of how to make one and then come up with my own recipe, although I had already pretty much figured out how I would do it.

***RANT ALERT****

Okay, I’m going to rant a little about something that has been bothering me for awhile, but with my most recent search for recipes for oatmeal souffle, I have decided that I have to say something. It drives me freaking nuts when I come across the same recipe, on site after site, that is exactly the same. Sure the wording of the directions might be slightly different, but in all honesty they are completely the same. It’s obvious that people are just “stealing” recipes and just changing the directions enough so as to not get busted for copyright infringement. Now, being the cynical guy that I am, I am not surprised by all these websites that have page after page of stolen recipes, but what really surprised and bothered me was the number of blogs that have done the same thing, and don’t give any attribution. Come on people! At least have the decency to twist a recipe a little bit to make it your own. Some blogs didn’t even bother to change the order of the ingredients and/or only changed or omitted a couple of words from the directions. Here’s an idea; if you are so lacking in cooking skills that you can’t alter a recipe to make it yours then you have no place in the blogosphere and need to give it up. Or at the very least man up, and let your readers know that the recipe you are offering is not yours. Give credit to those that take the time to create those recipes.

***RANT OVER***

The recipes I did find told me I was on the right track and helped me to refine a couple of the ratios I wasn’t so sure about and last night I had my recipe done. I told my wife that I would be cooking breakfast, which she wasn’t thrilled with. Normally she’d love for me to make breakfast but today is my birthday and she wanted to cook me a special breakfast with the help of your 4 year old daughter. As I really wanted to try out this recipe I convinced her that tomorrow (Sunday) would be a better morning for cooking me breakfast as I am planning on going out tonight, for my birthday, and probably wouldn’t be in any shape to cook breakfast tomorrow.

Overall, I am very pleased with how this turned out. It didn’t rise like a normal souffle does with all the heavy ingredients I didn’t expect it to, but it did come out much lighter than standard oatmeal or most of the baked oatmeal recipes I have had. It had a different texture, but not it a bad way. In fact I really, really enjoyed the fact that it wasn’t as heavy as regular oatmeal is. If I had any issues with this recipe, it might be just a little too sweet. If you like your oatmeal really sweet then keep the recipe as is, but if you prefer it not so sweet, or need to watch your sugar intake I imagine you could cut the maple syrup in half, from 1/2 cup to 1/4 cup and still end up with a very good dish. Also, while I often like my oatmeal heavily spiced with cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, etc. I keep the spices to a minimum so that they wouldn’t mask the maple flavor, which I would would be subtle.

I hope you enjoy this as much as we did. It is definitely the prefect breakfast for a cold winter’s day, when oatmeal sounds good, but you’re looking for something just a little different.

Triple Fruit Oatmeal Souffle
serves 4

1 cup milk
1 1/2 Tbsp. butter
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup oats, not instant
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup raisins
1/3 cup dried apricots, diced
1/3 cup chopped pecans
3 eggs, separated

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Butter and sugar a 1 1/2 quart ramekin or baking dish. In a small sauce pot combine the milk, butter and salt. Bring to a boil and add the oats. Cook the oats for the amount of time specified on the container then remove from heat.

As the oatmeal mixture is cooling slightly whip the egg whites to stiff peak. Do not over whip and make the whites dry!! Add the maple syrup, cinnamon, fruits and nuts to the oatmeal mixture and stir to combine. Add the egg yolks and mix well. Take about 1/4 of the whipped egg whites and stir that into the oatmeal mixture to lighten it then pour mix into the remaining whites and gently fold to combine. Do not over fold the mixture. It is okay to have a few streaks of whites remaining. Pour into the prepared baking dish and place in the oven. Cook for 30 minutes without opening the oven door. After 30 minutes remove from oven and serve immediately.

Souffles have fallen out of fashion, at least in regards to home cooks. I have hundreds of cookbooks spanning back over 120 years. In many of those books, dated from the 50′s through the 70′s and even 80′s, you’d find recipes for all sorts of souffles from sweet to savory. In the 80′s their popularity started to wane and now it is rare to find a new cookbook with a souffle recipe in it. That’s too bad as I think every decent home cook should know how to make a souffle.

There seems to be a mystique surrounding souffles and how difficult they are to make. Most of it is a load of crap. I can’t begin to count the number of souffles I have made, in both professional kitchens and at home, and I think I have had only 1 turn out a failure. They really aren’t that difficult to make, and they most certainly are not nearly as tempermental to bake as the myth has it.

I want to share 4 tips that will allow you to serve a perfect souffle almost every time. There’s nothing secret about these, nor are they all that enlightening, but follow these 4 tips and your success rate will be like mine.
1. Don’t over whip your egg whites. Leave them just shy of stiff peak to get maximum rise out of them.
2. Fold in 1/3 of the egg whites into your base to lighten the base then gently fold in the remaining whites. It’s okay to leave a few streaks of white unincorporated. This is better than over stirring and deflating your whites.
3. Once in the oven do not open the oven door for the 2/3 of the baking.
4. Serve the souffle as soon as possible after coming out of the oven. Even the best made souffle will start to collapse as it cools down. Time is of the essence.

This recipe makes a great breakfast souffle that will serve 4 people when accompanied by toast, bagels or pastries.

Cheese and Bacon Souffle

1/4 cup Flour
1/4 cup Butter + more for greasing the mold
1 cup Milk
Fresh nutmeg
1/2 tsp. Dry Mustard
1/2 tsp. Granulated Garlic
3-6 dashes Hot Sauce
2 Tbsp. Parmesan Cheese, grated
6 oz. Cheddar cheese (sharp or medium)
3 sliced Bacon, thick cut
5 each eggs

Preheat oven to 375. Dice bacon and render until crisp. Pour off fat and reserve bacon. Grease a 2 qt. Souffle mold or high sided baking dish with butter and dust with parmesan cheese. Place in the fridge. Separate eggs with whites in 1 bowl and yolks in another. Meanwhile melt remain 1/4 cup of butter over medium heat. Combine flour, a couple grates of fresh nutmeg, mustard, and garlic and add to the butter. Cook for 2 minutes then add the milk. When thickened add hot sauce and stir in cheddar cheese. Continue to heat until cheese has melted. Remove from heat. Whip egg whites to a point just short of stiff peak. Temper cheese mixture into yolks, stirring to combine. Add bacon. Gently fold in 1/3 of the white into the yolk mixture then fold in the remaining whites. Pour into mold and bake for 25 minutes. After 20 minutes quickly check for doneness. To test a souffle for doneness test just like a cake. Insert a toothpick or small knife into the souffle. If it comes out clean then it is done. Serve immediately.