Chicken and broccoli semi-fail

Tonight my intention was to make a modified version of Lane's rosemary chicken and some broccoli casserole of some sort. Aaaahhhh, best laid plans. When I went to start smoking the chicken, it was still partially frozen, so stuffing under the skin was out of the question. Therefore, the chicken is just Chicken slow smoked (under 275F at all times) for four hours a la Mechazawa, which is of course fabulous in its own rights.

I tried again (and semi-failed again) with the broccoli. I sort of made up a recipe from an amalgam of things that didn't involve cheese (which I didn't want, because I already was having meat). I swapped out rice flour for the wheat flour. I was hoping for a souffle, but as you can see in the picture, I sort of got a custard. I'm going to give the recipe, because it was fluffy and really good, so even if it doesn't turn into a souffle it's worth the effort. Hopefully I'll take advantage of my own notes at the end to make it superlative the next time.

Broccoli Souffle - or Custard
Serves 4

12 oz fresh broccoli
4 eggs
1/4 c fat (I used butter)
1/4 c flour (I used rice)
1/4 t salt
1/4 t pepper
1/4 t cayenne
1 c milk
2 t lemon juice
1/8 t nutmeg
1/4 t cream of tartar

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a souffle dish with whatever fat you're using to make the roux.

Steam the broccoli for 12 minutes or until done. (see note below)

Separate the eggs. Whip the egg whites until soft peaks form. Beat the egg yolks until well blended.

In a large saucepan, heat the butter. When it is just beginning to bubble, add the flour, salt, pepper and cayenne. Cook until bubbly but still white. Add the milk, stirring constantly to avoid lumps. Cook until thickened. (see note below)

Temper the egg yolks by slowly adding about half the hot roux to them while stirring rapidly. Pour this back into the pan. Add the lemon juice and nutmeg. If your saucepan is large enough, also add the broccoli (mine wasn't, so I just put the broccoli right into the souffle pan.). Fold in the beaten egg whites. Pour all into the souffle pan. If the broccoli was already in the souffle pan, stir gently to combine. Bake 40 - 45 minutes.

NOTES: OK, the broccoli was supposed to fluff up a lot, but as the picture shows, it didn't. Some thoughts:
1. (my most probably explanation) the saucepan was too hot and cooked the sauce prematurely so it didn't have a chance to rise in the oven. Take the saucepan off the heat once the roux is starting to thicken, and do everything else off the heat until you put it in the oven.
2. Maybe there's some element of gluten that makes things fluff and the direct rice flour-to-wheat flour substitution just doesn't cut it.
3. Maybe if I'd mashed or pureed the broccoli rather than leave it in bigger pieces, it would have risen more.

In any event, it was good enough to have like this, and to try to improve. So, onward!