It was said of the late Prime Minister of the UK, Harold Macmillan that he liked nothing better than taking a good trollop to bed. [I’m sorry  I’ll type that again ,, . a good Trollope [1] to bed.]

Well, Lois (with Bill’s wholehearted acquiescence) likes nothing better than to go to bed with Claudio Roden, Yotam Ottolenghi or Julia Child. Amber Guinness is a recent passion. And we shouldn’t forget Delia Smith, Elizabeth David or Nigel Slater. Or if you prefer an older man, Edouard de Pomiane or Pelegrino Artusi.

Yes, you guessed it! Lois an avid bedtime reader of cookery books Perhaps that’s why we receive so many accolades for our food from the guests on our Watermill creative courses. Comments like ‘out of this world,’ ‘outstanding.’ ‘top notch’ and ‘fabulous’ abound.

As you may know, we dub our week-long painting, writing, knitting and Italian language courses ‘Convivial creativity.’ Our guests enjoy inspired tuition, warm hospitality, delicious food and wine, stunning locations and, above all, the convivial company of like-minded people. And when better to talk about life, the trivial and the profound, than to the accompaniment of good food?

Lois enjoying preparing another delicious dish

To whet your appetite  (sorry about that), we thought we would serve you up a series of blogs about some of the special dishes at the Watermill. First up: Gorgonzola soufflés.

Lois serves these twice-baked soufflés to universal acclaim. They are an ‘Italianised’ version of a Delia Smith recipe (Delia uses Roquefort instead of Gorgonzola), tasting delicately delicious and looking very impressive!

Ingredients (for four servings):

110g Gorgonzola ‘dolce’ (less salty than ‘piccante’), crumbled
225ml milk
1 small onion, peeled and cut in half
1 bay leaf
A grating of fresh nutmeg
A few whole black peppercorns
25g unsalted butter
25g self-raising flour

2 large eggs, separated

To serve:
100 ml single cream
A handful of cut chives (ours come fresh from the watermill walled garden)

You will also need four ramekins, well buttered, and a roasting tin.

Method:
Bring your milk to a simmer with  the onion, bay leaf, peppercorns and nutmeg. Strain and throw away the soggy onions and seasoning. Melt the butter in saucepan and blend in the flour. Add the warm milk, stirring all the time to make a thick, smooth sauce. Then leave on a very low heat for five minutes to let the flour cook through.

Remove from heat and add egg yolks and 3/4 of the cheese.

Whisk egg whites separately and fold in. Fill ramekins with the mixture, and put in a bain marie (roasting tin filled with 1cm boiling water) for 15 minutes, at 180°C.

 Remove from oven and leave to cool.Turn out individual soufflés onto greaseproof paper and, when you’re almost ready to eat, sprinkle with remaining gorgonzola and bake for a further 20 minutes at 200°C. (Just enough time for an aperitivo!)

Serve straightaway, garnished with cut chives and a splurge of cream and hear your guests cry ‘Wow’

[1] Anthony Trollope, a prolific and popular Victorian writer, author of 47 novels, including The Barchester Chronicles series.