Mad in the Kitchen

It took a lovely NPR article about salad to get me so excited to cook/eat that I was anxiously awaiting my weekly market trip. The strawberries in that header photo look divine and thinking about juicy, crispy, crunchy, grassy, farmy tasting salad really makes me wish I wasn't sitting in a stuffy sterile office. 

Long story short, I grabbed all the ingredients for the radish salad (crisp crunchy) and made a very veggie focused dinner on Sunday night. Thanks to Caitlyn for smooshing the cheese for me because my finger was cut. More on smooshing in the yet-to-be-posted matza brei article I began writing a few weeks ago.

Radish Salad on NPR.

Another new Passover recipes - matza lasagna!

Because I started my Seder menu with a dairy dessert, I worked backwards to a dairy meal, which I would probably have ended up at anyway thinking of my vegetarian guests. 

I came upon the idea from an article on Bon Apetit, but the recipe it linked too was a very confusing list of steps so I just used it as my base point for cooking time and a jumping off point for ingredients.

Wet matza became a great substitute for lasagna noodles. I do love seeing all the creative uses for matza that people come up with. I have made matza grilled cheese, which also uses wet matza, and matza pizza which is just sauce and cheese on matza in the oven until it all melts.

As most my Passover recipes on this blog demonstrate, getting the matza a bit wet can make it very easy to work with. You just want to wet it enough so its not brittle, but not so wet that it gets soggy.

I used fresh mozzarella, cottage cheese, spinach, shredded eggplant, red sauce, vodka sauce, and of course, matza. Here is the article that sort of guided me. 

This kugel is my favorite recipe thing to eat on Passover and I also love it year-round. I even like the matza version better than the regular noodle version.

Kugel, by the way, I basically describe as a Jewish casserole. Wikipedia describes it as "a baked Ashkenazi Jewish pudding or casserole, similar to a pie, most commonly made from egg noodles (Lokshen kugel) or potatoes, though at times made of zucchini, apples, spinach, broccoli, cranberry, or sweet potato." I only have experience with sweet kugel, not savory kugel.

I have a feeling this is a new tradition in the making.

Cheesecake has been on my mind for quite some time. You'd think that living in New York I would have miles of perfectly creamy cheesecake at my fingertips at all time, but I honestly don't find it much here. Juniors supposedly has a great slice, but I'm never near either location. I actually really like the frozen Trader Joe's kind, but that is not a safe item for me to have in the house. It would be gone in a day. For that same reason, it was not a good idea for me to make a cheesecake on a regular weekend just for myself, I needed to have a party to go to or friends coming over.

Thinking about making a cheesecake I quickly realized that there is no flour in the center of the pie, making it an ideal Passover dessert. I decided to work from Smitten Kitchen's recipe and use ground up macaroons instead of graham crackers for the crust. I thought this was a brilliant never-been-done idea, until I opened my Passover Philadelphia cream cheese and the recipe inside the box had the same directions. I will venture to say that mine was better than Philly's and that even if I wasn't first, it was still a good idea. 

Dear Friends,

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This is my 101st post!

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I decided not to celebrate on post 100, because I am having mixed feelings about hitting triple digits, and 101 for whatever arbitrary reason I could make up seems less monumental that 100. Also 101 is a nice looking symmetrical number.

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Writing this blog and cooking more than I thought I had the heart for over that last nine months, has been quite a task, but also a rewarding one. As was my original goal, I have become far more comfortable in the kitchen, and I am not afraid to try my hand at a recipe that may seem daunting (for example Hollandaise sauce...). I have made some fun recipe that I may not ever make again (carrots in carrot sauce) and I have found new favorites that I have made again and again. 

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Cooking has become a part of my routine. I have read that you need to do something every day for a month before it will become a habit, and I think that there is a lot of truth to that. While there were weeks that I tried a new recipe almost every night (which I found was just too much to fit in with the rest of my life, while maintaining a level of sanity and serenity), even just cooking one meal or one dish per week has helped make cooking feel less like a daunting task, and more just like what I do. The past few weekends I have been making cucumber salad to eat with romaine, olives, hummus and Parmesan, and it feels really great to have something fresh and homemade ready to eat in the fridge. J and I still order in and make pasta with red sauce on nights when we are tired, lazy or out of groceries, and I am okay with that (We have also been really into Mama Rao's and Mario Batali's vodka sauces lately). I have a lot of respect and awe for Cathy of Not Eating Out In New York, its just not something I could ever do. 

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While cooking has become more routine for me, writing about it has not been at the forefront of my mind. I have four drafts write now of recipes I have made, that I have just not felt like sitting down and writing about. That was also the case with this post, and with the sushi post I finally finished writing last week I'm. not sure why I feel so blah about writing. I don't feel particularly triumphant anymore when a recipe turns out, and more often than not after cooking and washing the dishes I usually just want to go to bed (or watch X-files on Netflix and then go to bed). I don't really want to sit down and write about it. I have also been pushing cooking to the side to make way for other things. I have been doing more arts and crafts and I have begun training for a half-marathon which demands three running days and two cross-training days a week. I also just feel like being out more. Life is getting bigger, and time for extracurriculars is shifting to make room. 

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I don't intend to stop cooking. My Pinterest food board for food to make and food to eat has been steadily growing as have the post-its sticking out of the pages of all my cookbooks. I just might only post pictures. Or post really sporadically. I'm going to play it by ear. [I actually have a few post drafts that I still need to finish...] 

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I am thinking of having my own Lemon Tart-off, baking the tarts from What To Cook and How To Cook It and Tartine on the same day. A girl can never have too much lemon tart. My stepmom also suggested cooking from Tartine cover to cover, which sounds like an endeavor well worth the effort (does being a runner now mean I can eat as much butter and sugar as I want?). Passover is also right around the corner, and I always cook up a storm because there is not much else to eat and because it is my absolute favorite holiday and deserves some of the blog spotlight. [Speaking of drafts that never get posted, I write this draft a week ago. As of posting time, Passover begins tomorrow... grocery delivery between 8 and 10 am]

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Before I get to a list of some of my favorite recipes so far, I need to give a shout out so some of the helpful friends and family members who have been extra helpful over the past 100 posts. In addition to all those who have shared recipes with me and helped in other ways, I need to name a few of you individually. Jason has eaten everything and not complained one bit, even when things didn't turn out great. He has also been an indispensable dishwasher, sous chef, and complimenter. My dear Naomi has been a great buddy to brave the Union Square Whole Foods with - shopping with a friend takes the stress out of fighting through that monster of a grocery store. Auntie Betty has been a great help answering many food questions, especially the family recipes, from just a phone call away. Andrew has slaved away with me over many of my more ambitious projects and contributed a great post about his brisket a few months ago. Lastly, Stevie Nicks has been a great help by adding just the right amount of cat hair to each of my creations and gracing some of my photos with her presence. 

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Thanks for reading.

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xo Madeline

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Sushi is hands down one of my favorite foods. If I had to only eat three things for the rest of my life, sushi would be on my list. Jason and I disagree on whether or not I could choose a sushi platter as one item (I think that still counts one food) or if I'd have to narrow it down to salmon avocado hand rolls. I guess it's a good ice-breaker question because it can lead to that type of a discussion, and who really cares because I will never have to choose three items only to eat for the rest of my life. For the record, my list would also include plain soft serve frozen yogurt with strawberries on top (this also counts as one item in my mind) and the last item would have to be something with cheese. I could go for wood oven Margarita pizza, classic grilled cheese, or an egg and cheese sandwich like my mom makes. Maybe it needs to be something with cheese and avocado. Clearly I have not thought as hard about item number three. 

As I was saying, I love sushi and it's great being in New York where it is easy to find good affordable sushi. Sometimes when I am out and I need a quick snack I pick up a box of Macro Vegetarian sushi instead of a street hot dog.

It seemed like an easier endeavor to make vegetable sushi at home than it did to deal with raw fish as a beginner. Jason and I got some beautiful sushi dishes and supplies for Christmas, including a rice paddle shaped like a fish and ceramic origami crane chopstick rests. 

J and I made poached eggs and hash for dinner a few weeks ago (I love breakfast for dinner). I stopped into Whisk in Williamsburg, one of my favorite kitchen stores in New York, looking for paraffin and they had poaching pods in the impulse-buy area near the counter. I'd seen them before, and had previously held purist idea that I MUST poach eggs the way they were intended to be poached, not in a little silicone pod. Alas, I wanted some poached eggs and did not want to deal with making a mess and messing up so I gave in to the poaching pod. 

Agar agar (vegetarian gelatin) sucks. I guess I can't say that definitively but I have had some very frustrating experiences with it. The first was with my bramble jelly shots that had crunchy bits of agar agar jelled into the bottom of the finished jelly. I know I should keep trying before giving up gelled foods or resorting to non-kosher gelatin, but I get very aggravated when a recipe goes south and I don't know until the following day when it is too late to make changes or start over. 

I was very excited about making the Panna Cotta from What to Cook and How to Cook It. It had been a while since I made anything from that book, as I have mostly been finding recipes online, and I had a lot of cream left over from coffee at the party the week the week before.

I followed the recipe very closely, with only two changes. The first being that I used blueberries and strawberries (an alteration that should make no difference) and the second that I used agar agar. The recipe had notes for using powdered gelatin instead of sheet gelatin, which I followed, and I ground the agar agar into smaller granules in my coffee grinder before so they would dissolve easier.

I am not sure what went wrong. I let the agar agar expand in a dish of water as directed and I melted it in a double boiler set up as the second step described. Maybe I was being hasty? It looked like it had dissolved fully and the mixture gelled up so I added it in with the milk and cream mixture and poured it over the berries. At this point, I saw all the little granules of agar agar at the bottom of my measuring cup and had to make a decision.

Do I drain the dairy covered berries and try to melt it all together without burning the milk and while surely making a huge mess, or do I just go with it and hope there is enough gelatin in the mix to react and solidify? 

It was getting close to midnight so I decided to throw it all in the fridge and see what happened.

The next morning I was confronted with exactly what I was afraid of: Soupy not-gelled Panna Cotta. I separated the berries and the dairy using a large collander and put them each back in the fridge to think (the tart tray was taking up too much valuable room). The obvious use for an abundance of already sweetened milk and cream is ice cream, so that's what I decided. Vanilla ice cream with mixed berries. I wondered if the bit of agar agar would actually help the ice cream in some magical, jelly way.

Everything sat in the fridge another day until following morning when I asked Jason to pull down my ice cream maker for me. I poured in the liquid and let it set up some before adding the berries that I had mashed up the day before. 20 minutes later I was greeted with smooth, creamy ice cream. I will add that by this time I was still in my PJs and had 20 minutes to be at a mani-pedi appointment on the Lower East Side so this ice cream cost me a $12 cab ride (it was so worth it).

I decided to put the ice cream in ice pop molds for easy eating and to avoid scooping it from a container. I find that homemade ice cream tends to harden more than ice cream from the store, so ice pops help work around that. This was the first time I made ice cream with real milk and cream, instead of soy or almond milk, so I am not sure how much of a difference the agar agar made. I can say that the ice cream was less icy than the rest I have made.

SO MANY NEW COOKBOOKS! Between the holidays and my own purchases I am overwhelmed with recipes. Here is whats new on my bookshelf.

Cooking Jewish by Judy Bart Kancigor My Aunt Betty uses this for some of her Jewish staples so she gave me a copy, but I will still call her more often than not before I make Jewish food anyway. I just like talking about cooking with her.

Food Matters: A Guide to Conscious Eating by Mark Bittman  I am a big fan of Mark Bittman. In this book he describes his new awareness about eating responsibly, healthfully, and while respecting the earthy resources and includes 75+ recipes

The Foods of Israel Today by Joan Nathan While I was in LA I was marking pages in my stepmom's copy and halfway through the book I'd marked 20 recipes, so I ordered my own copy

At Home with Japanese Cooking by Elizabeth Andoh 

I have been looking for a good Japanese cookbook and this was recommended by someone who I met through work. She was born in Japan and her non-Japanese parents live there. This is the book her mother has always used, and it has American measurements. She recommended the Kara-age and Tatsuta-age.

Jamie at Home: Cook Your Way to the Good Life by Jamie Oliver Tartine by Elizabeth Prueitt and Chad Robertson  Both of these books were gifts from my dad and step-mom for Hanukkah. Both have amazing full color photographs. Karre suggested I cook/bake my way through Tartine, which I may have to do. Jamie at Home has some really amazing seasonal recipes that I am looking forward to, and I generally like Jamie Oliver the personality.

I came home Friday night after a long week, hungry, with not much in my kitchen but some various leftovers nearing the ends of their appropriate shelf lives (past that, if it isn't moldy and doesn't smell I will give it a try, and so far all as been okay). I managed to whip together a pretty good squash soup, which ended up being great timing considering I spent all of the long weekend in bed with a cold. 

I roasted the seeds from the squash I made last week with some of the spice mix I brought back from Israel. I really need someone to properly classify the spices for me. 

Basic Squash Seed Recipe

1 cup squash seeds 1 Tbsp olive oil 1/2 tsp salt seasoning to taste

The first time I had cucumber salad was at summer camp. I think it was part of the cooking class that made challah every summer.

I have not yet found a recipe that is exactly what I remember, because my memory of why I liked the camp Israeli cucumber salad is hazy. I remember yogurt, but not much of it, and I remember dill. But maybe there was no yogurt. Maybe it was just vinegar? I keep making variations to find my favorite - cucumber salad with tomato and dill was one I made a few years ago. It may or may not have had onions in it. I think the key is that it has to be cold and crunchy. Other than that I am easy to please.

This version comes only slightly altered from Joan Nathan's The Foods of Israel Today. As I said, I am not picky and I was very happy with it, even though it was quite garlicky. This made a fantastic dinner and lunch the next day with whole wheat pita, romaine, olive hummus, olives and shredded Parmesan. 

Cucumber Salad with Yogurt

2 large cucumbers  6 oz greek yogurt (or plain yogurt)  2 cloves garlic, crushed 3 Tbsp fresh mint, finely chopped 1 tsp salt

1. Peel the cucumbers and cut in half lengthwise. Remove the seeds (I used a grapefruit spoon) and slice paper thin. 2. Place cucumber in a colander or strainer over a dish and sprinkle with salt. Toss to coat and allow to sit for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, squeeze out any remaining water with your hands. 3. Mix together the yogurt, garlic and mint until well blended. 4. Combine the cucumber and yogurt mixture and mix until coated. Serve chilled

I love living in New York, there is an energy here unlike any other city I have visited, but I will always be a California girl at heart. Growing up fifteen minutes from the beach is more than I could ever ask for, and the weather in LA is pretty unbeatable. I do my best to take advantage of all that this amazing city has to offer and I really enjoy the changing of the seasons and fairly reliable public transit (I have grown to HATE driving). This warm winter, I haven't missed my sunny homeland all that often, but the other night I stopped at my local produce shop and I was struck with longing.

As I approached the register to pay for my carrots and daikon, the two shop owners turned to face me a it hit me. They were each eating half an avocado scooping it straight from the rind with a spoon. For a California girl like me, this is the ultimate heavenly snack. I remember as a kid there were radio commercials for California grown avocados, where a woman championed her favorite way to eat them; a la butter knife. 

Finding a ripe avocado in New York for a decent price is a challenge most of the year, so I jumped on the opportunity and bought two, at a dollar each. I know a girl from LA who has her friends and family FedEx her bags of avocados every once in a while. I have had my mom bring me a few in her carry-on bag on her New York visits. We are a transcontinental family - I ship my sister coffee from Mud because after a summer in New York she grew to like it more than any coffee she has found in CA.

I ate my avocado on water crackers with a sprinkle of sea salt. A simple, refreshing reminder of home.

My friend Caitlyn sent me this recipe months ago, and I finally got around to making it. I have been focused on the sweet rather than the savory these days, so I was looking forward to a making myself a cozy home-cooked winter dinner. 

It was really good, but a bit heavy for what I was in the mood for that night.

I had a lot of trouble cutting the squash into pieces. I had to consciously keep reminding myself not to get too violent with it, for fear of accidentally losing a finger. 

Not much more to write about this. I still have half the squash left over that I might fry in tempura batter and I already roasted the seeds with some spices.

Sweet and Spicy Kabocha Squash

1/2 small to medium kabocha or butternut squash 3 Tbsp light brown sugar 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper 1/2 tsp ground cumin 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg 1/4 tsp salt 1 Tbsp soy sauce 1/4 cup olive oil (or more) for drizzling

1. Cut the squash in half and remove the seeds. I find this is easiest using a grapefruit spoon. Cut the squash into 1/4 - 1/2 inch wedges and place in a large bowl. 2. Combine dry ingredients and mix well. Toss with squash until coated.  3. Add soy sauce and toss again. 4. Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper. Arrange the squash in a single layer and drizzle them with oil. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes. 5. Turn over the squash pieces and drizzle with more oil. Return to oven for 10 - 15 minutes.

When I moved to Rhode Island to go to college, I took my step-mom's banana bread recipe with me. She has always been a pro at moist, dense, comforting banana bread and each time I make it, I think my result gets a little bit closer. 

I don't know where she got her recipe from, or how long she has been using it, but I follow her tips very closely. The key that I have written about on this blog before, is letting the butter sit out all day to get to room temp, rather than softening it on the stove or (gasp!) in the microwave, or trying to mix it in cold.

Also, the bananas need to be VERY ripe, almost so ripe that you get grossed out looking at them, but not gross and moldy. Bananas are fun to mash up when they are soft and overripe

Sometimes I add a few handfuls of chocolate chips to the batter, but this time I did not. I did add a few on top while I was having fun taking pictures. I suppose you could also add some nuts or something, but I don't like nutty bread so I leave them out. 

  This bread turned out good, but not as moist as when my step-mom makes it. I have some more ripening bananas so I might try again later in the week.

Banana Bread

2 cups all purpose flour 1 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/2 cup sugar 1/2 cup milk 1 egg 1/4 cup softened butter 3/4 cup mashed very ripe bananas, or more (2-4 bananas) As many chocolate chips and/or nuts as you want, optional

1. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. 2. In another bowl, mash up the bananas. Add in the egg, vanilla, and butter and mix until well blended. 3. Add the wet ingredients into the dry and mix well. Stir in chocolate chips and/or nuts. 4. Pour into a buttered loaf pan and bake at 350 for 75 minutes.

French toast was the second dish I made for the engagement brunch at my apartment last weekend. I have had this a few times before, at my Aunt Betty's when we have the whole mishpacha over (thats Hebrew for family, sometimes my Hebrew and Yiddish pop up when I least expect it) and at my step Aunts house on Christmas. It is such a warm comforting dish with its gooey bread-y center and no crisp burt egg or overly crusty bites to worry about. Also, no making one or two pieces at a time, which is a big bonus for us lazy bums and when you need to make enough to serve forty.

Note Stevie Nicks checking to make sure I get a good picture of the french toast

There are quite a few versions of this recipe floating around on the internet, and Betty sent me a link to one like what she has used. It seems like many of these are based on a Paula Deen recipe, but my family and I skip the super sugary pecan topping and just serve jam and maple syrup. The recipe I followed suggested cubing the challah so that it absorbs more egg mixture, which I think really benefited the casserole. Using challah I think is another key- the best french toast is made with challah. I challenge anyone to convince me otherwise. 

This was really easy and I will be making it again. I also made a version with gluten free version with some gluten free french rolls for the non gluten eating guests, which I heard was also rather tasty. I can't confirm because I actually did not try it. Taste tester Jason was also a fan, and he is not usually info french toast, so I feel a small victory there. It's always nice getting an A+ from a tough critic.

This also made for some really exciting leftovers. I just threw a big chunk in the oven at 250 for ten minutes then topped it with a dash of syrup and voila! Madeline is a happy camper. 

Another thing too, I think making this the night before is really key. The Challah has time to absorb all the egg which helps the texture and the spices have more time to meld together. Also, challah is far superior in any french toast than regular, non-Jewish bread. 

Baked French Toast

1 loaf challah 3 cups milk 8 eggs 1 Tbsp sugar 1 tsp vanilla extract 1/4 tsp  ground cinnamon 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1. Slice challah into 1 inch cubes and place in a buttered 9x13 baking dish. 2. Mix together the rest of the ingredients until well blended. Pour the mixture over the challah, making sure it is evenly saturated. Mix or mash with a spoon if you need to. Cover with tin foil and refrigerate over night. 3. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes with the foil on. 4. Remove foil and bake another 20 minutes or until the challah is puffy and golden.

(Blintze Souffle)

I mentioned that I had been busy preparing to host a party and that I have weddings on the brain, and they have actually been entwined trains of thought. Two of my dear friends got engaged before the holidays and I offered to host an engagement party at my apartment with the help of some of our other friends. Wedding talk was the topic between all us girl friends as we were planning, and also something I was telling all my other friends about when I was telling them what I have been up to.

It was really fun planning a party to celebrate their love and happiness, and work I was happy to do, though being in charge of most of the food meant my kitchen was too full all week to do much cooking for myself. We had about 45 people over, so I had Fresh Direct deliver all my groceries. I quadrupled the blintze souffle below (I posted the regular quantity recipe) and the baked french toast, so my delivery included six dozen eggs, three tubs of sour cream, four tubs of cottage cheese, and six bottles of seltzer water, among other ingredients. There was no way I was going to lug it all up to my third floor apartment.

The party was in the afternoon and brunchy, so I decided early on to make food that could be prepared in a large quantity and thrown in the oven all at once. I first decided on a baked french toast recipe that my step-aunt makes on Christmas and my Aunt Betty has made for Mothers and Fathers day gatherings. While I was in California last month, Betty had made a blintze souffle for her grandson Taylor's first birthday and it was amazing. It was everything my blueberry blintzes were and more, baked in a convenient Pyrex dish, no rolling and folding blintzes necessary!

For the berry component, I decided to make Smitten Kitchen's blackberry sauce. My friend Amanda made me SK's lime yogurt cake with blackberry sauce for my birthday last summer, and it was to die for. What was leftover of the cake I devoured the next morning, and I have have dreams of the sauce since. I hope it is not too selfish to make what I want to eat for a party in someone else's honor. If I love it, I can assume that other people will too.

In the end, the souffle turned out great, with only a few hitches in the process. The first was that the butter did not mix well into the batter, which is a problem I often have. I leave my butter out all day so it softens, but it still doesn't even seem to mix well into the rest of the ingredients. I worry about melting it because I don't want to change the chemical composition if it cooks at all in the process (please post tips if you have them). I really would love a standing mixer (perhaps in red or copper?). I called Betty and she said the clumps should not be a problem so we moved forward.

The second problem was partially because of the butter clumps, and because my baking dishes did not have tall enough walls. Once I put the souffles in the oven, they rose some, and the butter puddled up on top and splashed over onto the burners, creating a lot of smoke. I thought the butter pool was egg, and that the souffle had to cook longer, so I let it keep cooking because I did not want to make my guests sick. That would be more than just a hitch.

Well, the smoke kept coming and every time I opened the oven I had to have a friend stand over me waving a towel so I could see and inhale as little smoke as possible. Luckily, the smoke alarm did not go off and it was a nice enough day that having the windows open was not uncomfortable.

Once I realized the smoke-causing puddle was butter, not egg, I took the souffle out of the oven and poured off some of the excess liquid and it was good to go. And it was good. No smokey flavor, thank goodness. The blackberry sauce was the perfect accompaniment, tart and sweet to complement the creamy sour cheesiness of the blintzes. The sauce was also so easy to make, and I plan on trying to make it with some other berries as well. SK says it freezes well once its made, which I am a big fan of.

The best compliment of the blintze souffle I received all day was from a friend of the groom who I had not met before. He is from Germany, and told me that he used to eat quarkauflauf as a child and that it was always a treat. My blintze souffle made him feel all warm and nostaligic, which I more than I could have asked for. The compliment was far more special than just hearing that it tastes good. I love knowing that my food can make someone feel good too. It's funny to note too that my Aunt Betty was born in Germany, even though if she ate this there she would not remember, she moved to the US with my Bubbie and Papa when she was a baby.

Blintze Souffle

Batter Layer 1/4 lb butter, softened  1/3 cup sugar 6 eggs 1 1/2 cups sour cream 1/2 cup orange juice 1 cup all purpose flour 2 tsp baking powder

Filling 8 oz cream cheese, cut into small pieces 2 cups cottage cheese 2 egg yolks 1 Tbsp sugar 1 tsp vanilla extract

1. In a mixing bowl or in a blender, blend all batter ingredients until well blended. Pour half the batter into a greased 13"x9" baking pan and reserve the rest. 2. Combine all filling ingredients and mix well. This is also easiest in a blender or food processor. 3. Drop heaping tablespoons of filling over the batter in the dish set closely together. Use a knife or spatula to spread the filling in an even layer.  4. Pour the rest of the batter over the filling layer. If you are preparing in advance, cover and place in the fridge until ready to use. It will last several hours or overnight. 5. Before baking, bring refrigerated souffle to room temperature. Bake, uncovered, 50 to 60 minutes until puffed and golden. 6. Serve immediately with a healthy dose of blackberry sauce and sour cream.

Recipe source:Unknown via Auntie Betty

Blackberry Sauce

12 oz blackberries 1/4 cup water (half if you are using frozen blackberries) 3 Tbsp sugar 1 Tbsp lime juice

1. Combine all ingredients in blender until very smooth. 2. Press through a fine mesh sieve to remove the seeds, using a spatula to extract as much sauce as possible. 3. Refrigerate and serve chilled.