It fascinating how much variation there can be from one recipe to the next. Three years ago I posted a recipe for Onion Souffle which called for chopped onions, bread crumbs, and egg. The mixture was cooked in individual ramekins. That recipe was good (at least that’s what I wrote at the time), but not memorable. I recently came across another hundred-year-old Onion Souffle recipe that was very different from the other one, so I decided to compare the two recipes. The second recipe called for pureed onion, and was a savory custard.
I can’t tell a lie-
I somehow forgot that I’d previously made an Onion Souffle recipe for this blog until I got ready to write this post. I’d already made the 1921 recipe, and had taken photos of it. When I loaded the photo into my computer and attempted to save it, my computer indicated that I had another photo with the same name. I did a search of A Hundred Years Ago posts for Onion Souffle, and a 2018 post immediately popped up.
Oops! I’d previously done an Onion Souffle post – though I have no memory of it. (It clearly was not a memorable dish).
Who would have guessed that the food I’m inadvertently make twice would be a quirky food like Onion Souffle? Apparently, at some subliminal level, Onion Souffle recipes appeal to me. Strange . . .
In any case, the “new” Onion Souffle recipe turned out well. The savory custard was light and smooth – and had a delightful onion flavor that was just right (and not too strong). I think that this Onion Souffle recipe will be a bit more memorable that the last one.
Here’s the original recipe:
Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:
Onion Souffle
6 medium onions
2 tablespoons butter, melted
3 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs beaten
1/2 cup hot milk (I heated the milk in the microwave.)
Preheat oven to 350° F. Peel and quarter onions. Put onions in a saucepan, cover with water. Put on stove and bring to a boil Reduce heat and simmer until onions are tender (about 15 minutes). Remove from heat and drain. Puree onions. (I used a Foley mill to puree the onions; though a food processor or blender could also be used.) There should be approximately 1 cup of pureed onion.
In the meantime, combine butter, flour, and salt in a mixing bowl. Add, eggs and beat until smooth. While beating, slowly add the milk. Then add the onion puree and stir quickly to combine. Put in a 1-quart casserole dish. Set the dish in a pan of hot water and place in the oven. Bake 30-45 minutes or until the souffle is set.
A Hundred Years Ago 
Brilliant! I’ll try this as I have a glut of onions at the moment, and soufflé is one of my go-to easy mid-week meals. Thanks.
I think that you’ll like this recipe.
I do. Though I notice the egg whites aren’t whipped separately in this recipe. I usually do this, so I will this time too.
Whipping the egg whites would make the custard lighter, which might be nice.
It’s on the menu for today!
Love onions will give it a go using a blender, what kind of weight is six medium onions ?
hmm. . . the six onions would probably weigh about 1 1/4 pounds. I think of medium onions as being about 2 1/2-3 inches in diameter.
That looks really good. Don’t you hate it when you forget something? At least they were different.
It was tasty. It’s annoying when I forget something like this – though I guess it probably means that I’ve made a lot of recipes across the years. I was surprised how different the two recipes were.
I would think I will remember a quirky recipe, although memory is a funny thing. I like the sound of “savoury custard.” I can (almost) smell how wonderful it is. I look forward to reading your Onion Soufflé (Recipe 3) Kate. 😂
I hopefully there won’t be a recipe 3 – though you never can tell. Maybe I should make making an Onion Souffle an annual event as I move into a new set of cookbooks each year. 🙂
another I’d like to try – and for a twist, I think the next time I roast some veggies, I’ll add the six onions to use in the souffle – for an added richness (hopefully!)
Works for me. 🙂
My memory went in the opposite way. I was searching for a recipe I was certain I wrote up and posted, but it was not there! Oops, I guess it was something I dreamed up at my 3 a.m. witching hour! This looks really good!
It’s yummy. It’s fascinating how memory can work. Hopefully you decided to actually make and post the recipe after you realized it wasn’t there.
I did! It was my holiday clementine cake!
I just went to your site and found the recipe. The cake looks incredible.
Thank you! And I only ran it once, sort of. I write a food column for our local newspaper and sometimes when I run an article there it gets in my memory, but a little turned around!
No wonder you got confused. You did do this recipe before – it was just for a different type of publication.
I’ve never made a soufflé before, but this one sounds intriguing. It might be a good place to start.
You should give it a try. The recipe was easy to make.
There’s always room for one more onion souffle! 🙂
How true – and (though I’m very foggy on the first recipe), think that I prefer this recipe. So, in the end, it all worked out well.
Sounds good. Hope to try it.
It’s tasty. I think that you’d like it.
Perfect timing for this recipe for me,as I was just thinking the other day as I was cleaning out the pantry I need to use those onions up . Glad you forget the other recipe .🙂
This recipe would be a good way to use onions.
I have trouble using up a bag of onions before they go bad… no more frozen chopped onions (to add to the large frozen supply). I’m going to have to give this a try!!
I think that you’ll like it.
This looks tasty and a great use of onions.xxx
It’s delicious. You’d like it, if you like onions.
I have lost track of what I have written and sometimes have to search my previous posts to see if I wrote about that already. It is fun to read something I had totally forgotten.
I’m glad that I’m not the only person who loses track of previous posts.
Sometimes I wonder why I care. If I can’t remember why do I think my readers can!!
I was worried that the WordPress “related posts” algorithm would pull up the other Onion Souffle recipe, and that readers would notice that I’d previously done a post on this dish before – but maybe I was overly concerned.
That would be too funny. I think we both overthink this repeating ourselves thing.
Saving this to give it a try
I think that you’d like it.
I think so too 🙂