Name: Jaques Reymond’s délice soufflés of fromage blanc
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 8
Ingredients: Butter, for greasing; 250 gm soft cottage cheese, at room temperature for 1 hour; 250 gm fresh ricotta, at room temperature for 1 hour; 200 gm Gruyère or Comté, coarsely grated, at room temperature for 1 hour; 7 egg yolks, at room temperature; 3 tsp cornflour; 6 eggwhites, at room temperature; Pinch of cream of tartar; Watercress sauce; 3 cups (firmly packed) watercress leaves, plus extra sprigs to garnish; 200 ml vegetable stock; 200 ml pouring cream; Pinch of paprika

Jaques Reymond’s délice soufflés of fromage blanc

A triple cheese threat, Jaques Reymond combines cottage cheese, Gruyere and ricotta for ultra light and fluffly délice soufflés.

Serves 8

Prep

15M

Cook

25M

Total

40M

“I created this recipe when my wife, Kathy, and I were running the family restaurant, L’Hôtel du Nord, in the village where I was born, Cuiseaux, in the beautiful region of Jura and Burgundy,” says Jacques Reymond.

“Across the street from the restaurant was the cheese factory, La Fromagerie, where they made fresh fromage blanc every day and also the big wheels of Gruyère. I wanted to create a recipe incorporating these two cheeses, which I used to eat every day as a child and gave me so much pleasure. We put this dish on the menu in 1988 when we opened the first Jacques Reymond restaurant in Richmond. At the time, fromage blanc didn’t exist in Australia. I asked my friend Richard Thomas to make it for us and it was superb. Many years later Matthieu Megard from L’Artisan Cheese took over from Richard and was making his own fromage blanc.”

For convenience, we’ve used cottage cheese and fresh ricotta mixed together in equal quantities.

Ingredients

Butter, for greasing

250 gm soft cottage cheese, at room temperature for 1 hour

250 gm fresh ricotta, at room temperature for 1 hour

200 gm Gruyère or Comté, coarsely grated, at room temperature for 1 hour

7 egg yolks, at room temperature

3 tsp cornflour

6 eggwhites, at room temperature

Pinch of cream of tartar

Watercress sauce

3 cups (firmly packed) watercress leaves, plus extra sprigs to garnish

200 ml vegetable stock

200 ml pouring cream

Pinch of paprika

Method

Main

1.Preheat oven to 180C and generously butter eight 150ml ceramic ramekins or metal dariole moulds and place in a roasting pan lined with a tea towel.

2.Combine soft cheeses in a bowl and season to taste. Very gently fold in Gruyère, yolks and cornflour to just combine. Season and set aside.

3.Whisk eggwhites and cream of tartar to medium-soft peaks in an electric mixer, then very gently fold eggwhite into cheese mixture with a spatula until just combined. Divide among ramekins, filling to 1cm from the top. Fill roasting pan with hot water to come halfway up sides of ramekins and bake until puffed and golden brown (30 minutes).

4.Meanwhile, for watercress sauce, blanch watercress in boiling water for 10 seconds (do not refresh), then process in a blender to finely chop. Bring vegetable stock to the boil in a saucepan, add cream and simmer until reduced by a quarter (3-4 minutes). Season to taste with paprika, salt and pepper, then, while processing with a hand-held blender, gradually add watercress until well combined, light and frothy.

5.Remove soufflés from water bath and carefully invert moulds onto warm plates. Spoon watercress sauce around and serve immediately topped with watercress sprigs to garnish.

Jacques Reymond

Styling by Lisa Featherby