Happy Anniversary, My Duyan!!!!
According to ancient Vietnamese philosophy, they believe that a soul will be re-incarnated until they find their ‘duyan’ or soul mate and when Tim and I first started dating, we knew our souls had finally found each other. So what could I possibly make that would thrill his very soul? Well, I actually had to dig deep within the recesses of my mind to make a clear, open-hearted decision.
Unsatisfied with the material I was coming across, I decided to just invent something new and here is what I came up with: an orange-mint souffle.
This is a cold soufflé, which is extremely fun and easy to prepare and the flavors of the orange and mint are perfect for combating the intense summer heat. The subtle citrus of the orange coupled with the zing of the orange mint is a wonderful palette cleanser and a refreshing finish to anything. And because it is so light, you’ll have no guilt about returning for a second helping.
Happy Anniversary, my dearest!
3 Cups Whole milk
1 Cup Orange mint leaves, packed
Zest of 1 Baseball-sized orange
1 ½ Cups Granulated Sugar
7 Egg Yolks
8 Gelatin sheets
5 Egg whites
¼ Cup Granulated Sugar
Extra Orange mint leaves for garnish
Prepare your 9” soufflé dish by fashioning a 2” collar for it by doing the following: Take a piece of aluminum foil, measure the length of it by wrapping it around your soufflé dish. Cut accordingly. Now fold your piece of aluminum in half so that it is half the width. Wrap around your soufflé dish and using scotch tape, fasten the foil in place.
In a heavy bottomed saucepan, heat the milk, 1 cup of the granulated sugar, the mint leaves and the orange zest over a medium-low flame until the milk begins to steam heavily and the surface of the milk bulges slightly. Immediately remove from the heat and allow the milk to infuse the essences of the orange zest and the orange mint leaves.
In the meantime, combine the remaining ½ cup sugar with the 7 egg yolks and whisk furiously to the ribbon. Strain the heated milk into a large bowl to remove the orange mint leaves and orange zest. Take your egg yolks and temper them by ladling the hot milk, one cup at a time, whisking all the while. Stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, return the custard to a medium flame and cook the custard until you can run your finger down the back of your spoon and leave a distinct line. Immediately remove from the heat.
Add the gelatin sheets and whisk until very smooth. Set your bowl over an ice bath and stirring frequently, allow your custard to begin to cool and set. Whisk often to prevent any lumps from forming.
In a stand up mixer with the whisk attachment, begin beating the egg whites until they hold stiff peaks. Add the ¼ cup sugar and mix until you have bright glossy peaks. Fold the egg whites into the custard.
Pour your mixture into your prepared soufflé dish, smooth out the top and refrigerate overnight.
Serve with a lovely sprig of orange-mint leaves.
Serves 6
Artist Unkonwn
One of Tim’s Anniversary Gifts to Me!!!!
3″ x 5″
He also gave me this book:
How perfect are we for each other? Guess what I gave Tim! An Hermes crop (whip) that is made of wood and leather; it’s fierce!
