Gingered Oatmeal Apricot Souffle: IMBB #20

Man is fallen. Thus, by extension, woman is fallen. Certainly, by extension, my souffle is fallen.

But would life in the Garden of Eden have really been that much fun? Dull, I'd think. Likewise, I've often munched my way through a perfect, sky-high souffle, but found the flavor rather eggily dull. My souffle, while attaining less-than-impressive altitutes, was damn tasty--gooey with brown sugar, sweet with apricots, kickey with ginger.

For those who might like to copy, or perhaps improve upon my contribution to Kitchen Chick's souffle challenge for the 20th IMBB, see below. I started with this recipe for oatmeal souffle, but changed it significantly.

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Gingered Oatmeal Apricot Souffle

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees, In a saucepan, just barely boil:
1 cup milk
2 Tbls butter

Add and cook until thickened:
3/4 cup quick-cooking oatmeal

Stir in and blend:
1/3 cup yogurt
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup dried apricot, diced
1/4 cup crystalized ginger, diced

Beat until stiff, but not dry:
3 egg whites

Fold in the egg whites, spoon into a buttered and sugared casserole or ramekins (I love the word "ramekin," don't you?) Bake for 35 to 40 minutes. Serve with ice cream. I used Chunky Monkey because that was all I had on hand, and it was surprisingly good. But vanilla would be safer and delicious.

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For an incredibly bizzare archaic souffle recipe (which I was briefly tempted to try) check out the Souffle of Small Fishes at Roman Recipes.

IMBB # 20 + Souffle