Beet and Tomato Ragout with Twice Baked Souffles

I made this ragout for Christmas dinner, and I loved it. I think everyone else liked it, too. The beets were a little too firm in texture, but the flavor was excellent. Both the beets and the souffles can be prepared in advance, and then reheated when you're ready to eat. This made it easy to have dinner ready when everyone had arrived, eaten some appetizers, and relaxed a little. The twice-baked goat cheese souffles are delicious and easy. If you have leftover souffles, you can rewarm them in the oven by pouring a little cream over the top of them and baking them for 20 minutes. This causes them to puff up again and be really beautiful and tasty.

The recipe recommended serving this with baby bok choy, but I made leeks in mustard vinaigrette instead. I also made brussels sprouts, which my family enjoyed immensely. With all the yummy butter and garlic, it's hard to go wrong.

I wasn't sure how big a large beet would be, so I used 6 medium beets instead of 4 large beets.

Let's get started

First, make the souffles through their first baking. Here's the full recipe for twice-baked goat cheese souffles.

Then, prepare the vegetables for the ragout. Finely dice 1 medium red onion. Peel and cut 4 large beets into irregular 1/2 inch dice. Dice one cup fresh tomatoes with their juices, or you can use 1 can of diced tomatoes, preferably organic. Since it was winter when I made this, I used the canned tomatoes. The recipe said to use 1 cup of canned tomatoes, but I used the whole 14 oz. can. Chop 2 T. tarragon, and 1 small garlic clove.

Melt 1 T. butter in a medium saute pan. Add the onion and cook over medium heat until it starts to color, about 7-10 minutes. Stir in 1 T. tomato paste, 1 T. brown sugar, the chopped garlic clove, a pinch of the tarragon, and 1 cup water. Simmer about 20 minutes until the onions are soft and the liquid is reduced. Add the beets and tomatoes, season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook another 25-30 minutes, adding more water as needed so there is a little sauce at the end. Add 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar and 1 T. tarragon. (The rest of the tarragon will be used for garnish at the end.)

Twenty five minutes before you eat, heat the oven for the second baking of the souffles. (See recipe link above.) Reheat the beets. Serve the beets on each plate along with some of the sauce, placing a souffle on top of the beets. Garnish with the remaining tarragon.

Serve with a green vegetable such as bok choy with butter and tarragon, brussels sprouts with butter and garlic, or steamed leeks with mustard vinaigrette.

Cost to prepare

4 large beets - $3.60

1 medium red onion - $.80

2 T. chopped tarragon - $1.00

1 T. tomato paste - $.25

1 T. brown sugar - negligible

1 small garlic clove - negligible

1 14-oz can diced tomatoes - $1.00 or 1 cup fresh tomatoes - $1.00

salt, pepper, balsamic vinegar - negligible

TOTAL cost of beet dish alone - $6.65 for 4 or more servings. There were 5 of us for dinner and we had leftovers, but we also had appetizers and several other dishes for dinner.

TOTAL cost of souffles - $9.80 for 8-10 individual souffles.

When beets are in season from the farm, I will try making this with brown and wild rice instead of the souffles. This is a lovely and tasty dish for company.

Once-baked Goat Cheese Souffle

This is the recipe I was most intimidated by, so my daughter, Brittany made it for me. I was busy in the kitchen with other things, but I watched as she prepared it and it didn't look difficult. You're supposed to use a souffle dish or a rustic gratin dish. I wasn't sure what the difference was, so I googled it.

This is a souffle dish.

This is a gratin dish

Apparently, it is any large, lowish dish that batter can puff up in. We used 6 ramekins, and one pyrex round bowl. They worked great.

I thought that when the souffle came out of the oven it was going to collapse down into a sad, shriveled, wrinkled looking thing. It didn't. It was beautiful. It had a golden top with attractive little cracks in it. The souffle itself was light and fluffy with that wonderful tang of goat cheese. Brittany doesn't like the taste of browned eggs, so she preferred the one cooked in the larger dish rather than in the smaller ramekins.

Making the souffle didn't look all that difficult. Here are the instructions:

Preheat the oven to 375. Butter your souffle dish(es). Slowly heat 1 1/2 cups milk with 2 onion slices, 1 thyme sprig, 1 bay leaf, 1 crushed garlic clove, and 1/2 t. salt. Turn off the heat when it nears boiling and let it steep. Separate 4 eggs. Add the whites from 2 more eggs to your egg white bowl and discard the 2 yolks.

Melt 3 T. butter in a saucepan, stir in 3 T. flour and cook over low heat for 1 minute. Pour the heated milk into the saucepan through a strainer and whisk. Cook over low heat for a couple more minutes, then remove from the heat. Stir a little of the milk mixture into the 4 egg yolks. Whisk them and add them back into the sauce, whisking as you go. Stir in 5 ounces crumbled goat cheese. Taste for salt and season with pepper.

Whip the egg whites until they're nearly stiff, then fold them into the base and transfer to your prepared dish. Bake until puffed and golden, but still a little wobbly when you shake the dish (about 25 minutes). Serve immediately.

Things to try next time: Bake it all in one dish.

Approximate cost to prepare:

1 1/2 cups milk - $1.50

aromatics - $1.00 (?)

3 T. butter - $.30

3 T. flour - negligible

6 eggs - $2.50

5 ounces goat cheese - $4.50

TOTAL - $9.80 for 4 people

Since this dish is substantial but somewhat neutral in flavor, many dishes can be paired with it. Try wine braised lentils, beets, dark greens, or a light spring salad.