Easter foods = eggs, ham, lamb…and garlic
I love holidays with my mom. They don’t revolve around presents, or unreasonable expectations and the inevitable hurt feelings. They’re as straightforward as a good meal followed or proceeded by a walk with the dogs. We have certain guidelines - turkey is only for Thanksgiving, but lamb is fair game year-round. We spend a lot of time in the kitchen, but we like it that way. The wine helps, too.
But this Easter, we were left on our own since my mom and two sisters are on vacation. Nice of them! But, luckily, I still get Easter baskets, and luckily, those baskets aren’t the usual confections of Peeps and jellybeans and hollow chocolate bunnies anymore. Sometimes she does away with the baskets altogether. This year, I got an “Easter bag” well in advance. I had to borrow my mom’s cooler for the drive home, as my bag was dominated by a sturdy boneless leg of lamb. Oh, yum. So, no family for Easter, but definitely lamb.
One thing I’d like to do on this blog is get the chance to talk with you all about food in a more casual way then we can in the print paper. With that in mind, I’d like to occasionally tell you about what I’ve been cooking at home. Yes, I do cook - a lot - although not as much recently. So this past weekend…it was the lamb. Per a recipe on Epicurious, I marinated it in plain yogurt, crushed garlic, rosemary and pepper for about six hours, then we grilled it and ate it, all smokey and charred on the outside, pink and tender within, with a sprinkling of sea salt and finely chopped rosemary. We also had a simple salad of mache and lemon-hazelnut vinaigrette, and an almond tart for dessert.
Truly, though - and Mom, I still thank you for the lamb, we have a ridiculous amount of leftovers - the piece de resistance was a roasted garlic souffle. It was the perfect thing to eat during an early spring dinner, one spiritly part spring, one earthy part winter, fluffy clouds of caramelized garlic. And I don’t think we could have eaten this with my mother. In Judith Jones’ memoir, The Tenth Muse, her mother asks the celebrated cookbook editor quite gravely if she really likes garlic. Well, that’s my mom, too. She gets anxious when a recipe calls for more than one clove. I’m more likely to triple it.
This is a recipe that calls for a special occasion. It’s not a lot of work, but it requires planning, and it’s not the healthiest side dish. But it’s a showstopper and I’m tucking it away to keep for a long time.
Roasted Garlic Souffle
Adapted from Gourmet
3 large heads garlic, plus 3 garlic cloves, smashed
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 1/2 cups whole milk
1 medium yellow onion
3 large thyme sprigs plus 1 teaspoon finely chopped thyme leaves
1 bay leaf
1 whole clove
1/8 teaspoon black peppercorns
7 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 /1/2 tablespoons fine bread crumbs
5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 large eggs, separated, plus 4 egg whites
1 1/2 cups Parmigiano-Reggiano
1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1.4 cup grated Gruyere
- Preheat oven to 400F with rack in middle.
- Trim 1/4 inch from tops of whole heads of garlic, then place in the middle of a sheet of foil and drizzle with olive oil. Wrap foil around the garlic and roast 50 minutes to 1 hour. Cool to warm and squeeze garlic from skins.
- Bring milk, smashed garlic, clove, onion, thyme sprigs, bay leaf, and peppercorn to a boil in a medium saucepan (just barely to a boil - be careful not to let the milk boil over onto the burner), then remove from heat and cover. Let steep 30 minutes.
- Butter a 12-inch oval or rectangle gratin dish with 1 tablespoon melted butter (you could try to make this in a glass Pyrex dish, too, I think), then sprinkle bottom and sides with breadcrumbs (just as you would flour a cake pan). Chill until ready to use.
- Melt remaining 6 tablespoons butter in a medium saucepan and whisk in flour. Cook roux over low heat, whisking constantly, about 5 minutes.
- Strain milk mixture through a fine-mesh sieve, then add to roux, whisking until smooth. Bring to a boil, whisking, then simmer, whisking, 3 minutes. Remove from heat and vigorously whisk in yolks one at a time. Whisk in roasted garlic (don’t worry if some of the garlic is still in chunks - the souffle should still rise, and the golden melting bits are delicious surprises), parmesan, nutmeg, 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Taste, and add a little more salt, pepper and nutmeg if you’d like. Note: this mixture is called a bechamel, and it can be made at most one day ahead, covered with plastic wrap and chilled. Reheat before making the souffle. The roasted garlic can be made two days ahead.
- Beat egg whites with a pinch of salt using an electric mixer until they hold stiff peaks. Stir one third of mixture into bechamel. Fold in Gruyere, then remaining whites. Pour mixture into the gratin dish, smoothing top and sprinkle with chopped thyme. Bake until browned on top, 20 to 25 minutes. Serve immediately.
