Muenster Cheese Soufflés
I love Muenster cheese…even if it’s not the coveted French Alsace variety with the “big and bold flavor” that Dorie extols. I was anticipating the need to use ordinary grocery store Muenster for these soufflés…but a last second run into one of the more gourmet markets brought me face to face with the real, albeit pricey, deal! My pungent round of Petit Munste, le préferé d’Alsace, was $15.99 for 220 g. Yikes. But actually, I was excited to make these individual Muenster Cheese Soufflés. Instead of sugaring the buttered ramekins, you utilize dried bread crumbs to give the batter something on which to cling while making it’s triumphant rise. With the cheese in my fridge, I was ready to roll.
Oh, boy; these were terrific! As with soufflés in general, they deflated almost instantly, but the gourmet Muenster was a sublime addition, providing the predominant flavor without overwhelming the dish. The bit of cumin in the recipe was also discernible…and the perfect complement. I had one for lunch and another for dinner. Even the hubby was impressed. As Dorie suggested, I served mine with a salad of sliced cucumbers, grape tomatoes and peppers. In lieu of roast red bell peppers, I sprinkled my salad with “Sweety Drop” peppers purchased at DeLaurenti: Specialty Food & Wine in Seattle when I was at the food bloggers conference last month. Simply dressed with kosher salt, olive oil and balsamic vinegar, it made for a perfect meal.
The recipe can be found on Epicurious.
What I learned at the International Food Bloggers Conference (my favorite food bloggers conference to date!!!!):
- Friendships established on-line are only reinforced when you meet in person. I have made the most amazing friends via food blogging and meeting SO many was truly the highlight of the conference.
- Seattle is a foodie’s heaven. Dining at the award winning Sitka and Spruce was the culmination of an amazing conference…sharing top notch food with like minded gourmands. Every bite was exquisite. Thank you Urban Spoon!
- Dorie Greenspan is the antithesis of a diva…she made herself available to all of us, gave her phone number out to one of my friends who wanted a cookbook autographed and brought us cookies from her New York bakery. Meeting her was worth the price of admission and more.
- Renowned New York Times food photographer, Andrew Scrivani, wowed us with his exquisite food photography. I was hoping to absorb some of his talent by osmosis…didn’t seem to stick! He showed us his home studio set up (basically a window and table) and shared his tips (now where are my notes????). He uses cheapboard inserts to bounce light artfully onto his food. He also reminded us to shoot in RAW, use our macro lenses and to utilize natural light as much as possible.
- The sponsors were AMAZING! I’ve already done a giveaway from Lágrima Vanilla Extract and plan to do an olive oil tasting with my girlfriends sponsored by California Olive Ranch. For the bakers like me, glorious samples from Manuka Doctor Honey and Sharffen Berger Chocolate were also a thrill.
59 Comments on “Muenster Cheese Soufflés”
This sounds amazing! I can’t wait to try it!
I loved the souffle and salad combination too. I’m glad you had such a great time at the conference! All of your posts have really made me want to visit Seattle.
This looks so tasty and with one of my favorite cheeses!
Your cheese souffles are so tempting Liz. Your individual portions are so perfect.
I would love love to be a part of the conference sometime. How do we get to know where and when the conferences are?
The sheer decadence and size is good for me, gorgeous cookies 🙂
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Sorry these were meant for your coyota cookies? Brown butter ones! I commented on the wrong post 😛
These cheesy soufflés look awesome too!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
I finally discovered Muenster cheese! I LOVE it as well. You souffle looks delish.
Yup- these little babies were amazing, no ? I am going to be redoing them again in the near future. And what a surprise to me to find I do like “stinky cheese”. Love that you came cross the real deal- even the packaging looks amazing. And enjoyed the trip down IFBC Memory Lane. Can still hear the “Manuka Dr’s” voice 🙂
I used the same cheese, but alas, the flavor of mine didn’t come through in the souffle. Must have been a different batch. I’m glad it worked for yours though. They look fabulous. I enjoyed your reminiscing about IFBC. Wasn’t it fun?
Liz, your souffle is so beautiful! I’m afraid I was counting on Whole Foods… and they let me down – I should have probably substituted one of the “fancy” cheeses I picked up on the same trip. Your description of your time in Seattle (and fairly enough, those of others) has left me terribly envious! I’m so happy that you had such a wonderful time!
I use Muenster in my mac and cheese, but not the pricey version. I know the top of the line brand would make a huge difference. Your souffles and the salad make a great meal at any time. A blogger conference is on my to do list and when I do I hope you are there.
Liz, your cheese soufflé looks fabulous – took me a while to find the Munster cheese and I am a day late but I also enjoyed this recipe very much!
Have a great weekend!
Agreed – the people were the best part of the conference (the other parts weren’t too shabby either)
Lovely soufflés!
Beautiful soufflés. They look delicious and with the salad you had a perfect lunch:)
Looks like such fun Liz. And the cheese souffles – oh dear!
Awesome cheese souffles, Liz. One is not going to be enough for me.
The souffle looks wonderful. Enjoyed reading about the conference. Dorie sounds like a lovely person !
Beautiful soufflé, Liz! It sounds like the conference was a great experience, too. I’ve loved seeing all the photos!
Dorie sounds so wonderful. Lucky you! Your souffles look beautiful, Liz.