A Good Excuse for Melted Cheese: January's Cave to Co-op
Among the most delightful foods of childhood has to be grilled cheese sandwiches. The gooey bubbly warmth, and the simplicity of flavor of melted cheese are such wonderful childhood indulgences.
Spring Brook Farm's Reading Raclette. Photo by Tony Cenicola/New York Times
So when I started researching our January Cave to Co-op cheese, Spring Brook Farm's Reading Raclette, I was amused to find that such fancy words are used to describe all that childhood goodness of melted cheese.
In Switzerland and France, Raclette is both a type of cheese and also a meal of melted cheese: a wedge of raclette is heated (traditionally in front of a fire but in modern times using a raclette grill) and, after a few minutes, the the melted edge of the cheese wedge is scrapped off onto boiled potatoes.
To me, this sounds like all the childhood joy of melted cheese without bothering with the sophistication of the fondue pot.
Photo Courtesy of Spring Brook Farm
Spring Brook Farm’s Raclette brings it all full circle – sales of their Reading and their Tarentaise cheeses go to support their awesome work with city kids. The Farms for City Kids Foundation offers urban fourth and fifth graders the opportunity to spend a week on the farm helping milk cows and do chores.
Jeremy Stephenson of Spring Brook Farm turning and washing their aging cheeses. Photo courtesy of Spring Brook Farm.
Of course, you don’t need to serve raclette cheese in the traditional way to enjoy it – I'm betting it'll make a mean grilled cheese and it’s also a gread addition to a cheese board with its creamy nutty flavors.
The Reading Raclette will be on sale through the end of the month. I can’t think of any better excuse for a grilled cheese sandwich. And maybe even my first raclette party.
French Onion Soup with Raclette
My mother made this soup over the holidays and I was reminded again how good it is to have French Onion soup in the winter. While this recipe is slow to cook, it only takes 15 minutes in the kitchen to get the ingredients together. Serves 6.
3 Cups sliced onions
1/4 Cup butter
2 Tablespoons flour
1/4 Cup dry vermouth
1 Quart beef bouillon
6 nice big slices of sourdough bread
1 Cup grated raclette
Cook onions slowly in butter in a large soup pot for about 15 minutes. Add flour and vermouth. Add stock and cook 3-6 hours. Put slices of bread in the bottom of each soup bowl. Fill the bowl with the onion soup. Cover with grated cheese and broil till the cheese is bubbly and a bit browned (this takes only a few minutes so keep your eye on the oven!). Serve immediately.