Gruyere souffle

Yummy! Admittedly, this is not something for the beginner cook. But even though there are a lot of steps, it's actually not that difficult to put together. You just need a souffle dish (like in the picture). This is one of the very few things I make where I measure, so it is important to be precise. The top on this one got a little darker than it needed to be, but fortunately that didn't change the taste.

Oh, and you can use any cheese you want, even cheddar.

Room temperature butter for greasing soufflé pan

2 tablespoons parmesan
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon dry mustard
½ teaspoon garlic powder
1 1/3 cups milk, hot
4 large egg yolks
6 oz grated cheese
5 egg whites
1 teaspoon cream of tartar

Use room temperature butter to grease soufflé mold. Add grated parmesan, roll around the mold to cover sides. Cover with plastic wrap and place in freezer for 5 minutes.

Heat the 3 tablespoons butter in a saucepan, and allow all of the water to cook out. In a separate bowl, mix flour, mustard, garlic powder and salt. Whisk into melted butter. Cook 2 minutes. Whisk in hot milk and turn heat to high. Once it reaches a boil, remove from heat.

In separate bowl, beat egg yolks until creamy. Temper the yolks into the milk mixture, whisking constantly. (NOTE: to temper them, add some hot milk to the eggs first, beat, add a little more, beat, then add the eggs to the total milk mixture. Dumping the eggs into the hot milk without doing this first will cause them to scramble.) Remove from the heat and add cheese. Whisk until incorporated.

In separate bowl, whisk egg whites and cream of tartar until glossy and firm. Add the whites by thirds, folding very gently. Pour into soufflé, bake 35 minutes at 375. DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN DOOR. Serve immediately.