¼cupgrated cheeselike parmigiano reggiano or a domestic parmesan
Vegetable Garnishes
½cupfresh shelling peasblanched for a minute in boiling salted water, shocked and cooled, or you could just use frozen peas too!
Two fresh radishesthinly sliced and then quartered.
Two to three ramp bulbssliced. If you are using fresh ramps, feel free to chop some of their leaves finely and add that as well.
Radish greens picked from the top of the radisheswashed and dried.
Instructions
Dried Morels
Preheat the oven to 375
Heat the morels in the water with a pinch of salt and bring to a boil, then cool them in their liquid until you can handle them.
Cut all the morels in half vertically, then agitate them in their liquid to remove any grit. Remove the morels, strain their liquid, and then recombine the two.
Separate the morels into two equal piles, one for ugly misshapen ones, the other for pretty ones as a garnish with the vegetables.
Chop the pile of less picturesque morels roughly, then add them back to their liquid.
Morel Souffle Mix
Heat the morels in their liquid and then whisk in the semolina until thick, about 3-4 minutes, set this aside.
Stir in the cheese to the semolina-morel mixture, then cool for a few minutes before adding the egg yolks.
Beat the egg whites with a tiny pinch of salt in a cold bowl with beaters or in the bowl of a stand mixer until they double in volume and hold soft peaks.
Gently fold the egg whites into the semolina and morel mixture using your hands (James Beard's preferred method) or with a spatula or wooden spoon, just make sure to stop mixing once the mixture is fully incorporated, as over-beating will make them lose volume in the oven.
Grease 4 ramekins or custard dishes liberally, then add half a cup of souffle mixture to each one. If you have leftover souffle mixture, use it to top off the others.
Bake the souffles until a cake tester comes out clean, this should take about 15-20 minutes depending on your oven. If you check on them and they are not done, just leave them in for another minute or two. You really want an attractive brown on top as well, so if you need to bump up the heat to 400 for a minute or two to finish them, that's fine.
Plating
After you have removed the cooked souffles from the oven, heat a pan with a tablespoon of oil or butter and saute the sliced ramps briefly for a min or two, then add the peas, reserved morels and lastly the radishes. Adjust the seasoning with a bit of salt and pepper, and then add ⅛ cup of white wine and a tablespoon of butter, cook for a minute or two to evaporate some of the wine.
Place some of the radish greens on each plate, followed by a souffle and then a spoonful or two of the peas, ramps, morels, and radishes. Serve immediately.