DAY Recipe

DIRECTIONS

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 400°F. Generously butter one 10-cup soufflé dish or six 1 1/4-cup soufflé dishes; sprinkle with Parmesan cheese to coat. (If using 1 1/4-cup dishes, place all 6 on rimmed baking sheet.) Melt butter in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add flour, cayenne pepper and nutmeg. Cook without browning until mixture begins to bubble, whisking constantly, about 1 minute. Gradually whisk in milk, then wine. Cook until smooth, thick and beginning to boil, whisking constantly, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Mix yolks, salt and pepper in small bowl. Add yolk mixture all at once to sauce and whisk quickly to blend. Fold in 1 1/4 cups Gruyère cheese and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese (cheeses do not need to melt).
Using electric mixer, beat whites in large bowl until stiff but not dry. Fold 1/4 of whites into lukewarm soufflé base to lighten. Fold in remaining whites. Transfer soufflé mixture to prepared dish. Sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons Gruyère cheese.

Place soufflé in oven; reduce heat to 375°F. Bake soufflé until puffed, golden and gently set in center, about 40 minutes for large soufflé (or 25 minutes for small soufflés). Using oven mitts, transfer soufflé to platter and serve immediately.

DIRECTIONS

Whisk chickpea flour, salt and pepper in large bowl to blend. Whisk 1 3/4 cups water and 1/4 cup olive oil in medium bowl. Add water mixture to dry ingredients; whisk until batter is smooth. Cover; let stand at room temperature 1 hour.

Preheat broiler. Thoroughly coat 12-inch-diameter ovenproof skillet with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Pour half of batter into skillet, tilting skillet to spread evenly. Broil until golden brown, about 4 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 450°F. Transfer skillet to oven and bake farinata until knife inserted into center comes out clean, about 3 minutes. Cool. Run spatula around sides of skillet to loosen farinata, then slide out onto cutting board. Repeat with second half of batter. Cut each farinata into 6 wedges.

*Available at Middle Eastern markets and some natural foods stores.

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 400°F. Place eggplant on baking sheet. Pierce eggplant several times with fork. Bake until very soft and skin wrinkles and cracks, about 45 minutes. Cool slightly. Cut baked eggplant in half lengthwise. Peel off skin. Place eggplant in sieve and let drain 45 minutes. Finely chop eggplant.

Whisk 1/4 cup olive oil, lemon juice and garlic in medium bowl to blend. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add eggplant; toss to coat. (Can be prepared 6 hours ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)

Bring medium pot of water to boil.Add tomatoes to boiling water and blanch 30 seconds. Using slotted spoon, transfer tomatoes to bowl of cold water and cool.

Using small sharp knife, pull skin off tomatoes. Core tomatoes and cut in half crosswise; squeeze out seeds. Transfer tomatoes to processor and blend until smooth. Transfer puree to bowl. Mix in remaining 1§ tablespoons olive oil, salt and white pepper. Let coulis stand until any air bubbles have popped, stirring occasionally, about 45 minutes.

Spoon § cup tomato coulis into center of 4 shallow bowls. Using 2 large soup spoons, form eggplant mixture into oval and set atop coulis. Repeat, placing 3 ovals in each bowl. Garnish each with 1 fresh basil sprig.

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 325°F. Arrange bread slices on baking sheet. Brush olive oil over both sides of bread. Bake bread until golden, about 6 minutes per side. Remove toasts from oven. Rub cut sides of garlic over toasts.
Combine seeded plum tomatoes and fresh lemon juice in medium bowl. Season with generous amount of saltand pepper. Toss tomatoes to combine. (Toasts and tomatoes can be prepared 1 hour ahead. Cover separately and keep at room temperature.)
Preheat oven to 350°F. Spread goat cheese over toasts; arrange on baking sheet. Mound tomatoes on toasts, dividing equally. Bake until heated through, about 8 minutes. Transfer bruschetta to platter. Sprinkle with mint.