STEAK & SOUFFLÉ

by Jay Wilson

STEAK DIANNE

INGREDIENTS
1 T shallots or green onions
1 T butter
Freshly ground pepper
3 T sliced mushrooms
1 t chopped parsley
3 T (about) dry sherry
1/2 t dry mustard
1-1/2 t (about) cognac (doesn't hurt to be generous)
3 T beef broth
3 T whipping cream
1 serving-size piece thin sirloin steak
butter
salt

DIRECTIONS
Sauce: Chop white part of shallots fine. Melt 1 tablespoon
butter in skillet; add shallots and a dash of pepper. Cook
very slowly for about 10 minutes. Add mushrooms and parsley;
cook for 5 minutes longer. Add sherry; cook for 5 more
minutes. Stir in mustard. Pour cognac into ladle. Heat until
cognac flames; pour into skillet. Add beef broth when flame
goes out; bring to a boil. Stir in cream; let bubble till
thickness of gravy.

Steak: Flatten sirloin with mallet; grind pepper over steak.
Brown quickly on both sides in second skillet; salt to
taste. Top with cream sauce.

SERVINGS: 1

GRAND MARNIER SOUFFLÉ

INGREDIENTS
2 C milk
3/4 C sugar
1/3 C flour
2 oz butter (1/2 stick)
5 egg yolks
7 egg whites
2 oz Grand Marnier

DIRECTIONS
Beat egg whites until stiff.

Heat milk, add sugar, stir and bring to boil. Mix melted
butter with the flour and stir into boiling milk, blend
until thick creamy consistency.

Off the fire add the grand Marnier.

Beat egg yolks until lemon in color and add to mixture,
continually stirring. Gently fold in beaten egg whites.

Pour into buttered, sugared souffle mold. Bake in 400
degree oven for 20 to 25 minutes with oven door closed.

Serve immediately.

SERVINGS: 2-6, depending

Lunch by an Open Window by Steve Darbishire is available at Art.Com.

It's hard to imagine eating something like a souffle or Steak Diane in Texas, where Jay Wilson lives. The good news, he says, is that he took along some of his "bad habits" when he moved to Texas several years ago. When he's not cooking, Wilson writes fiction, under a pen name. He cooks under his own name.

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