Mint soufflé (Antonin Carême).
(printout version recipe November/December 2005 (2 pages A4))

List of ingredients:
For the infusion:
a handful of mint leaves (not the stalks!)
grated peel of 1 lemon
8 decilitres (3 1/3 cup/1 2/3 pint) milk
And:
180 gram (1 2/3 cup + 1 Tbsp.)icing sugar
180 gram (1 cup - 1 Tbsp.) rice 
80 gram (1/3 cup) unsalted butter
pinch of salt
6 yolks and 6 whites of eggs
some extra cream if necessary
extra butter and icing sugar for the mould
Optional: 2 Tbsp. crème de menthe
Garnish:
thin slices of lemon, mint leaves/flowers, silverpills
soufflé dish with a content of 1 1/2 liter (6 cups/3 pints), or 12 small soufflé  dishes

Preparation in advance: You start with the flavouring of the soufflé, in this case an infusion of mint and lemon in milk.
Pour boiling water over the lemon to remove the thin wax layer (even when you use ecologically grown lemons). Grate the peel (only the yellow, not the white). Pick the mint leaves (don't use the stalks), wash or wipe them clean, and cut or tear them in strips. 
Heat the milk with the lemon peel and the mint leaves, let this simmer on a low fire (the milk mustn't boil) until the milk has evaporated with 25% to six decilitres. Then strain the milk.
Meanwhile wash the rice with lukewarm water, then put it on the fire in a pan with enough cold water. Bring to the boil, let boil for two or three minutes, then strain the rice.
Now take a pan with a thick bottom, put in the rice and the milk-infusion, heat until almost boiling. Now cover the pan with a lid, and temper the fire to very low (use a heat diffuser if necessary). Let the rice simmer for an hour. Fifteen minutes before the rice is ready, add butter, powdered (or icing) sugar and a pinch of salt. Stir very carefully until everything has blended. When the rice is done it has to be pureed, either by straining it or using a blender. The pureed rice must be of a creamy consistency, add some whipped cream if it is too stiff. Return the pureed rice to the pan and keep warm. If you so chose, you can stir some crême de menthe through the rice. That is not in the original recipe, but I like it.
Separate the eggs while the rice is simmering. grease a soufflé mould with butter and sprinkle the inside with icing sugar. Preheat the oven to 170ºC/335ºF.

Preparation: Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt.
Temper the yolks with the warm puréed rice. To avoid curdling, start with mixing a little of the warm purée with the yolks, whilst stirring. Add some more of the purée, keep stirring. When the yolks have reached about the same temperature as the rice, you can add them to it, stirring the purée well. Replace the pan on a very low fire and keep stirring the rice purée until the yolks are completely incorporated. Now spoon the beaten whites through the mixture, first a quarter, then the rest. Pour the mixture in a soufflé mould, or in several small individual soufflé moulds. Place them in the oven, slightly below the center.
According to Carême the soufflé must bake for at least two hours, but at 170ºC it suffices to bake small soufflés for 25 minutes, and a large one for not more than 35 minutes. 

To serve: Sprinkle the soufflé with icing sugar. Carême suggests caramellizing the sugar by holding a red-hot fire scoop over the soufflé. That is not an item most modern kitchens will have laying about, but more recent recipes as p.e. in Escoffier's Ma Cuisine, suggest sprinkling the soufflés with the sugar five minutes before the end of the baking. However, you'll have to open the ovendoor to do that. I prefer to sprinkle the soufflés with the sugar and serve them right away.

How to separate eggs?  Very simple: Pour the raw egg on the fingers of your (clean!) hand, and let the white run through your fingers. The yolk will remain wiggling on your fingers. If you absolutely must, buy an egg separator, but when nature has provided us with the perfect tool, why waste money? Other people use the eggshell halves to separate the yolk from the white, but these shells have sharp edges. 
How does one beat egg whites?  Although this is wide-spread knowledge, I 'll state it here once more: a soufflé is made with beaten egg whites, and egg whites will never be stiff enough unless the eggs are at room temperature to start with, and all used kitchen implements are absolutely fat-free. I live in a temperate climate, so my eggs never see the inside of a refrigerator anyway, but if you keep your eggs refrigerated, remember to take them out at least an hour before using them.. 
Crack the eggs one by one above a seperate bowl. If the yolk breaks you can't use the white for the soufflé, and if you crack all eggs above the same bowl and the last yolk breaks, you'll have to throw away all the whites. So you'll need three bowls, one to break the eggs in, and two others to collect the separated yolks and whites. If you're unsure whether the bowl is absolutely grease-free, just rub a slice of lemon in it, then rinse with water and dry with a clean cloth.