Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume 2 (149 page)

For 4 to 6 people

Ingredients for 2 lbs. eggplant in the preceding Master Recipe, Steps 1, 2, and 3

Peel, cube, salt, and drain the eggplant; then sauté in oil until lightly browned. Reserve the bread crumbs, tossing the eggplant with only the shallots or scallions, garlic, and herbs. Set aside.

For 2 cups béchamel

5 Tb flour

4 Tb butter

A heavy 2-quart saucepan

A wooden spoon and a wire whip

1¾ cups milk heated in a small saucepan (a little more if needed)

Salt and pepper to taste

A rubber spatula

A lightly buttered 6-cup baking dish about 1½ inches deep

2 to 3 Tb of the reserved bread crumbs

1 Tb melted butter

For the
béchamel
sauce (which you can make while the eggplant macerates), melt the butter in the saucepan, blend in the flour, and stir over moderate heat until flour and butter foam together for 2 minutes without browning at all. Remove this
roux
from heat, and when it stops bubbling, vigorously blend in all of the hot milk at once with wire whip, beating until mixture is perfectly smooth. Return over moderately high heat, stirring with whip as sauce thickens and comes to the boil. Boil, stirring, for 2 minutes, season lightly to taste, and remove from heat. Sauce should be quite thick; if too thick for easy spreading, beat in more milk by droplets. (If done ahead, clean off sides of pan and press a sheet of plastic wrap on surface of sauce to prevent a skin from forming.)

Spread a ⅛-inch layer of sauce in the bottom of the baking dish with spatula, spread half the eggplant on top, and cover with half the sauce. Spread rest of eggplant over this and cover with the last of the sauce. Sprinkle the crumbs on top and dribble melted butter over the crumbs.

(*)
AHEAD-OF-TIME NOTE
: Recipe may be completed to this point and set aside.

To gratiné, if sauce and eggplant are still warm, set 4 to 5 inches under a moderately hot broiler for several minutes, until eggplant is bubbling and crumbs have browned lightly. Otherwise bake in upper third of a 425-degree oven for 15 to 20 minutes, but do not overcook.

Soufflé d’Aubergines en Persillade

[Eggplant Soufflé]

Fold beaten egg whites into the preceding sautéed and sauced eggplant, and you turn it into a soufflé—not the airy cheese type, of course, but something that puffs dramatically in a wide baking dish with removable collar. Serve it, along with a fine tomato sauce, to accompany boiled beef,
roast lamb, broiled or roast chicken, or let it be the main course for an informal luncheon.

For 8 servings

The soufflé base

Ingredients for the preceding 2 lbs. of sautéed eggplant baked in
béchamel

Following the preceding recipe, peel, cube, salt, drain, and dry the eggplant; sauté in oil until thoroughly tender and very lightly browned. Toss with the shallots or scallions and garlic.

Chop rather roughly with a big knife on a board. (You will have about 2½ cups.) Fold into the pan of
béchamel
sauce, along with the chopped parsley. Carefully correct seasoning.

(*)
AHEAD-OF-TIME NOTES
: May be completed in advance to this point; clean off sides of pan and lay a sheet of plastic wrap on top of the sauce. You may also fill the mold (next step), cover with a bowl, and bake an hour later.

Assembling and baking—25 to 30 minutes at 400 degrees

1 Tb soft butter

A 6- to 8-cup baking dish about 2 inches deep (such as a round one 10 to 11 inches in diameter, or a casserole)

⅓ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Waxed paper

Heavy aluminum foil and 2 straight pins

3 egg yolks

5 egg whites

1½ to 2 cups
tomato sauce
, or the fresh tomato
coulis,
Volume I, page 78

Preheat oven in time for baking. Smear butter inside baking dish, sprinkle cheese inside to coat bottom and sides. Shake or knock out excess cheese onto waxed paper and reserve. Encircle circumference of dish with a double thickness of well-buttered aluminum foil secured by pins; foil should rise 1½ inches above rim of dish. Reheat soufflé base, folding over moderate heat. Stir in the egg yolks.
Beat the egg whites
to stiff peaks; stir one fourth of them into the soufflé base along with all but 1 Tb of the reserved Parmesan cheese. Scoop rest of egg whites on top of soufflé base and delicately fold in with a rubber spatula.

Turn the mixture into the prepared dish. Sprinkle on the remaining cheese and set soufflé immediately in lower third of preheated oven. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until soufflé has risen about double and is nicely browned. (If served as soon as it has risen, the inside will be soft and the soufflé will sink rapidly; if baked 5 minutes more, the soufflé will be drier but will hold up longer. Follow your own preference, but these additional minutes give you some leeway.)

As soon as the soufflé is done, remove from oven, undo aluminum collar, and serve immediately, accompanied by the tomato sauce in a warm bowl.