Live. And Learn. And Eat.

Today was rough. Father's Day, or as I call it, "crippling emotional trauma" day.  I'll have my trauma with a side of eggs, please!

Decided on a lovely soufflé for dinner, but the recipes always call for a flour-thickened yolk base and as we all know, I'm a carb nazi. Instead I thickened the yolks by turning them into a hollandaise, folded together with the cheese and egg whites then scraped the mixture into a buttered dish that had been sprinkled with parmesan cheese. Turns out I shoulda used an extra egg because the dish was a bit on the large side. Live and learn. And Eat.

BT-dubs? No carbs.

4 eggs, separated

1/2 cup unsalted butter (melted) + more (unmelted) to grease a 1 quart casserole

1/2 cup grated cheddar

1/4 cup shredded parmesan

1 tbs lemon juice

1/4 tsp sea salt

hearty pinch of paprika

Preheat oven to 400. Grease casserole with unsalted butter and sprinkle in the parmesan. Shake the dish to distribute the cheese, set aside. Whisk the egg yolks and lemon juice together in a stainless steel bowl until the mixture is thick and light. Place the bowl over a pot of barely simmering water, the bottom of the bowl shouldn't be touching the water. You can also use a double boiler, but I'm not that fancy. Continue to whisk rapidly, careful to not let the eggs get too hot because they'll scramble. Slowly drizzle in the melted butter and continue to whisk the eggs until the sauce is thick and hollandaisey. Remove from heat, whisk in the salt and cayenne. Set the sauce aside. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff but not dry. The hollandaise should be around room temperature by this time, gently fold the egg whites into the sauce 1/3 at a time, alternating with the cheddar. Everything should still be fluffy but well combined. Turn it out into the casserole and put it in the oven immediately reducing the temperature to 375. Bake for about 25 minutes, DO NOT PEEK for the first 20. Serve immediately.