Submitted for your approval: The tale of a chef and his doppelganger, separated by a continent, each devoted to his own unique culinary path, yet driven together, inexplicably, time and again, by a mysterious force. Some might call it fate, some might dismiss it as the natural result of expert training and the synchronicities of our modern age. In a moment, witness the true compulsion that drives these two men to labor from the same page in that great cookbook we call life. Recognize it for what it is.
For it is a recipe whose ingredients can only be found… in the Twilight Zone.

Can I just say that we adore Stephen of Stephen Cooks. His recipes always look positively scrumptious and it’s clear that he enjoys mucking about in the kitchen as much as Chopper does (though I’d hazard a guess his kitchen is a lot cleaner). Over the past few months we’ve gotten a kick out of the fact that, on more than one occasion, Stephen and Chopper have been on the same wavelength. It’s as if they’re channeling each other; as if this curious culinary conduit stretches all the way from Maine to the Northern tip of Washington and then, from the aether — or perhaps from Saint Lawrence, the patron saint of chefs — they receive their instructions. Tonight, it will be bread pudding. Next week, a soup… Then, in October…

The IMBB/SHF combo chocolate soufflé!

Chocolate Orange Frozen Souffle

Now, I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking: But this is Monday. Why are you posting this on Monday?

Well, it’s like this:

Me: Hey! Let’s make the chocolate soufflé on Friday!
Chopper’s Boss: Can you come in early on Friday to bake bread?
Me: Okay, how about Saturday? After the rummage sale?
Chopper: If there’s time. Oh wait, time for work!
Me: Hey, it’s Sunday, shouldn’t we be making that soufflé?
Chopper: Um, what time was that White Sox game again?

So, Chopper did eventually finish the soufflé, and the White Sox won, making it an even better evening, but by the time we had the puppy plated and had photos taken, we were just too dead dog tired to post.

Okay, I lied. I was too lazy. Chopper was tired. He did all the baking.

Which brings me to the next part of this post. Or rather, an apology. No recipe this time. I can tell you that Chopper took the Cointreau Iced Soufflé recipe on page 515 of Professional Baking by Wayne Gisslen (fourth edition) and adapted that. (How much adaptation, I really can’t tell you. You’ll have to pester him.) The sauce is from pulped orange, the topping is candied orange zest and dark chocolate shavings, and the base under the frozen soufflé is a squashed macaroon.

We gave the plated version to Mom who gobbled it up with gusto. Me, I just had a small tasty bite (to save my lactically incompetent stomach), and nibbled on the leftover candied orange zest.

Meanwhile, we will gaze in awe at Stephen’s half of the IMBB/SHF brainwave. Where Chopper’s is ice, his is fire. To be exact, a dark and fiery chocolate soufflé with espresso, brandy, and cayenne pepper. I think I just died and went to heaven.

I swear, one of these days we’re taking that cross country road trip and putting these two in the same kitchen. The results might just be astounding. Or, it could end up like that old Trek episode where if the guy from the matter universe meets his twin from the anti-matter universe, life as we know it will cease to exist. But hey, that would be pretty astounding too.

IMBB # 20 + Souffle

This entry was posted on Monday, October 24th, 2005 at 11:59 am and is filed under food blogging events, imbb, sugar high friday. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.