Potato Gruyere Souffle

I recently held a smorgasbord at my home -- an entire day devoted to cooking and a night devoted to eating for a constantly rotating group of people. It was a lofty undertaking but ultimately, a success. Especially with one cook. Many of these are dishes I would never make for myself, mostly because they're too rich or simply not my taste. I'm trying to expand my culinary horizons, however, so this was a great opportunity to test recipes I otherwise wouldn't have made. These potato gruyere souffles will definitely grace my table again though.

I found the original recipe for these to be a little fussy, and it called for bleu cheese rather than gruyere. I already had a gibanica involving feta so I figured two brined cheeses might be too much. These were a favorite and actually pretty easy once I simplified the method. It may not be a true souffle but it's still worth a try.

You will need:

12-count muffin pan
apx 1 1/3 stick of butter, melted altogether
1/2 cup bread crumbs
3 lbs of peeled potatoes
2/3 cup whole milk, room temp
1 tsp salt
1/2 lb gruyere, cubed
3 eggs

Preheat the oven to 350. Using a brush, grease the inside of the muffin tins with butter. Dust with the bread crumbs. Boil the potatoes until tender then quickly peel. While they're still hot, use a fork to scrape away at the potato to produce crumbs -- you can also use a ricer or food mill for this. Throw them into a large bowl and beat with 1/4 cup of butter, the milk, salt and eggs.

Fill the muffin tins halfway with the potato mash. Evenly divide the cubes of gruyere between the 12 tins. Use the rest of the mixture to fill them completely. Brush a little butter over the tops and bake in the middle or lower rack for 15 minutes, then 450 for 5 more minutes. Allow to cool for a few minutes before removing from the tins.