Goats Cheese & Tomato Souffles

As a child I was brought up on goat's milk as I was allergic to cow's milk. I have, ever since loved the taste and smell of goat's milk, goat's yoghurt and most of all goat's cheese.

We are so lucky in Tasmania with good goat's cheese. My favorites are Bothwell and Meredith Dairy cheeses.

Tonight I fancied a goats cheese souffle and as I had four large vine ripened tomatoes it became a goat's cheese and tomato souffle.

The picture above is not of tonight's result as Mary and I were too hungry to muck about taking a photograph. You'll have to trust me therefore when I say that they turned out extremely well.

The mix I used was entirely a product of my own imagination so I thought I would share it before I forget.

The quantity of souffle mix was enough to make four of the larger size 300ml bowls which had been greased with good butter and popped in the freezer until just before filling.

I took a plain Bothwell goat's cheese log and crumbled it into a large mixing bowl and added 4 peeled and de-seeded tomatoes which had been quartered and roasted in good olive oil in the oven for about 20 minutes. I added a little Murray pink salt and a fine grind of black pepper and 3 egg yolks and mixed it all up with the blade of a knife.

My egg whites were six in number and beaten in the Kitchenaid on 8 until just forming soft peaks. I then added a pinch of cream of tartar and continued to beat until stiff.

Then the trick is to fold about a 1/4 of the egg whites to the cheese and tomato mix and combine before adding the rest and gently combining.

I filled the four souffle dishes almost to the top and wiped the rims clean before popping them in the oven at 220C for 12 minutes.

In the meantime I chopped 2 Lebanese cucumbers up and dressed them with the merest amount of walnut oil and dusted them with sumac.

The souffles rose evenly and the tops browned nicely while the centres were moist and the edges came away a nice gold colour.

The combination of the predominantly goat's cheese taste with the secondary flavor layer of tomato and the side dish of cucumbers enhanced by the sumac was awesome if I do say so myself.