It snowed, it hailed, it rained and it blew and then the power went off……

We knew it would be cold so had lit the fire early, we had a list of wonderful things to cook and Nick had prepared all the ingredients he needed to start baking. 

Nothing to do but wait.

A friend popped over with baby Aerin for coffee and no power.  So we pulled the chairs up to the fire and without anything else to do - opened a bottle of wine!  Even little Aerins baby bottle wasn’t a problem; it got warm on the fire.

Very lucky, the power came on late afternoon, some frantic cooking and we had a wonderful dinner of Twice Cooked Gruyere Soufflé with a  salad of Spinach, Walnut and Red Onion followed by a Chocolate Mouse Cake with Pomegranate and Pine Nuts.

To top that off we opened a bottle of 2001 Freycinet Cabernet Merlot from Tasmania, fantastic.

Try this Souffle its much easier than you would think and if you are cooking for a few people it can be pre prepared right up to the first cooked stage and refrigerated for up to 48 hours.

Twice Cooked Gruyere Soufflé

40gm butter

40 gm flour

190 ml milk

70 gm Gruyere cheese (grated)

2 eggs

250 ml (1cup) cream – I used less than this!

Heat over to 180C, melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat, add flour and stir continuously until just coloured.  Gradually add milk, beating continuously until smooth.

Add 40gm of the cheese stir to combine – cool slightly then add egg yolks and season to taste.

Whisk egg whites and a pinch of salt until firm peaks form then fold one third of egg whites into cheese mixture, fold the remaining egg into the mixture then divide amongst 4 floured moulds.  Place moulds in a roasting tray and pour enough water into the tray to reach about half way up the moulds.  Bake until golden (about 25 minutes) and then cool in the moulds.

Transfer the souffle's to heatproof bowls, pour over the cream and scatter the remaining cheese. Bake again for 20 minutes or until golden brown.  Serve with the salad on top or on the side.

Spinach, walnut and red onion salad.

Finely slice ½ a red onion – sprinkle with a little salt

Finely slice baby spinach leaves that you have removed the stalk, add to onion

Toss a small handful of walnuts in a hot pan until cooked then chop these finely, combine with spinach and toss with a little extra virgin olive oil, a little verjuice and season to taste with salt and pepper.