Paula Deen's Lean: 4 Cheese Souffle

I'm a food-competition-television-show-lovin'-geek. I know. You're surprised, right? My most recent addiction has been Master Chef. I am just blown away by the talent from these home cooks! They know how to cook everything. They may be home cooks now, but I'm a little suspicious. There may have been some professional training earlier in life. Still, these cooks are crazy-good!

Anyway, one of the challenges or "pressure tests" was to make a perfect souffle. Chef Ramsey built this up to be one of the most difficult items for a chef to master. Naturally I was intrigued and felt the need to accept the challenge as well. I went straight to my girl Paula for a recipe to work from and an hour later...I had a pretty nice lookin' cheesy souffle. Wanna give it a try? You can do it! Show Chef Ramsey that you are a Master Chef too. Here's my very simple recipe adapted from Paula Deen's 4 Cheese Souffle.

FOUR CHEESE SOUFFLE
Makes 4

INGREDIENTS

1 onion, diced

1 tablespoon EXTRA-VIRGIN OLIVE OIL

1 tablespoon "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter"

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons WHOLE-WHEAT flour

1 cup  FAT FREE half-and-half

1 cup 2% Four Cheese Mexican Blend

Salt and pepper

5 eggs whites

1 cup ORIGINAL EGG BEATERS

Fat Free cooking spray


DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Saute onion in olive oil and ICBINB until translucent.

Whisk in all-purpose and whole wheat flours to form a roux. Gradually whisk in the FAT FREE half-and-half until thickened. Add cheeses and season.

Remove from heat and beat in Egg Beaters. Allow to cool.

While Egg Beaters are cooling, beat whites to stiff peak. Gently fold in whites to cheese mixture.

Add mixture evenly to 4 sprayed (with FAT FREE cooking spray) oven-safe ramekins and bake for 35 to 40 minutes.

Serve immediately.

RESULTS

Rudy admitted to not expecting them to taste that great...but he was wrong! There is a lot of flavor in these souffles. They looked great coming out of the oven, but they did fall down a little during the photo shoot. Maybe that is what Chef Ramsey was talkin' about. Keeping the souffle from falling may be the challenge....or maybe it's just me.

 I am thinking it has something to do with using "low-fat" substitutes. If any of you know anything about the science of the souffle, PLEASE SHARE! Still, they tasted really good and saved on fat and calories. This qualifies as a success in The Cookin' Lean Kitchen.

NUTRITION FACTS (per serving/ 1 souffle):

BEFORE: 451 calories;  34.27 g fat; 12.25 g carbohydrate;  23.33 g protein;  .45 g fiber

AFTER: 294.5 calories;  14.4 g fat;  19.09 g carbohydrate;  21.94 g protein;  .7 g fiber

SAVES: 156.5 calories & 19.88 g fat 

ADDS: .25 g fiber

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