Raclette Party--All About Melting Cheese

Last year by this time I hosted at least three raclette dinners. The weather was quite "wintery" and the idea of eating warm melting cheese with a glass of wine seemed very appealing. This year, weather is unusually warm and it took me a long time to do my first raclette. I use that opportunity to introduce those who never tried raclette to that easy, no-haste and a very social party idea.

When I lived in Geneva, every Friday, starting late at fall, we met at our friends place for either a fondue or a raclette dinner. At that time, I preferred fondue, as it seemed more tricky to make. Today, I like to serve raclette as something more versatile and more fun to eat. In Switzerland, raclette is often served with sliced meats: salami, dried ham dried or cured ham, but most often I make a simple vegetarian version of it.

Raclettes and fondues are served and most appreciated in the skiing resort cabins, where all the tired skiers with cold feet finish their days.

To make raclette you need a few things.

First, you need a special machine that you can purchase easily on line from Amazon.com, as I did a few years ago, the simpler, the better.

Second, you need the right cheese. The most important aspect of the raclette cheese is its melting capacity. You can get a special cheese called Raclette (Trade Joe's and Whole Foods usually carry them during the season, or you can buy it at specialty cheese stores) which melts easily and smells wonderfully (or, as some say, dreadfully).

Instead of the Racleete cheese you can buy a more expensive Appenzeller, Gruyère, or Comté which originally were used in the raclette mix. I also add two different types of cheese, less aromatic and milder in taste as Jarlsberg or Emmentaler. You need about a quarter pound of cheese per person.

Third, you need cooked potatoes. You cook them until soft and place on top of the raclette machine. They will get slightly roasted while you will wait for the cheese to melt underneath. I like to use baby potatoes, but any not too large potatoes will do. You need about 2 pounds for four people.

Fourth, you need marinated vegetables and mushroooms to serve with the raclette. They should be small (the smaller the better) cornichons, pickled baby onions, and marinated mushrooms. You can buy good cornichons at any food store, but make sure they are not "sweet", with no honey added, which makes them taste like a dessert rather than something pickled. Their sourness in an important aspect as I think it helps to digest the cheese.

You can buy marinated mushrooms that are pretty good, but I often make my own which taste even better. However, it is hard to get pickled onions here, so I buy pearl onions preserved in salty water. I drain the salty water away and replenish it with a half measure of hot water and another half measure of 6-percent vinegar. Then I close the jar, and let the onions marinate for at least one day. I also like to buy sweet and sour hot peppers to serve, just for the extra spiciness and color.

And lastly, you need white wine. I would say the lighter and cheaper the better. In Switzerland a special, almost bubbly wine is served in one-liter bottles. I think that very dry sauvignon blanc or pinot grigio are closest substitutes for the original Swiss wine. My latest favorite, and not only for raclette, is Coteaux Du Languedoc.

Good sea salt and freshly ground pepper are also indispensable.

To Make Raclette:

1. Preheat the machine to the maximum temperature.
2. Put cooked potatoes on top.
3. Put marinated vegetable in medium bowls,
4. Cut cheese in slices an place a serving on each little pan and grill the cheese until it melts.

5. Scrape the cheese with a spatula, drop it on top of the potatoes, and season with salt and pepper (but mostly pepper).

...and enjoy.

Beans and Capers Salad--Fast and Healthy

Sometimes there are days like yesterday. It is winter but feels more like spring. This unusual warmth does not cheer us up, but disappoints our kids dreaming about true winter, snow, and skiing. And the bright sunny skies too early in the season make us rather tired than energetic.

There is so much to do, but no mood to do anything. And this is that kind of day day when I do not feel inspired to cook. Instead, I opened a can and made a simple nutritious salad. I think this salad comes from the Greek cuisine tradition: it calls for capers, olive oil, and lemon. It can be the whole lunch with bread alone, or could accompany cheese and cold cuts. It can also be served with grilled meats, especially lamb, which likes bean's company very much.

I seem to have all the ingredients for this salad always available. I am a big fan of capers: both proper capers and the large caper berries, so I buy a big jar of them; even if open, it can be stored in the refrigerator for a few months. I add them to my salmon in green sauce,  veal sauce, or salads like this one to spice them up.

White Beans and Capers Salad
(Serves four)

Ingredients:
2 15-oz cans of cannelini beans,
1 clove of minced garlic,
2 tbsp capers,
4 tbsp flat Italian parsley,
3 stalks spring onion,
juice from one lemon,
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil,
salt and pepper to taste.

Preparation:
1. Open the cans and wash the beans under the running water, drain them, and place them in a medium salad bowl.
2. Mix lemon juice with olive oil, minced garlic, salt and pepper. Pour over the beans.
3. Chop spring onion and parsley leaves. Add to the beans.
4. Rinse caper under the water and add to the beans. Mix and serve.

Leek Tart on Walnut Crust--Instead of Leek Soup

One would think that since I love to cook and share so peristently my culinary experience on this blog, my kids must be open-minded or even adventurous when it comes to food.

Ironically, it is almost the opposite. They favor the typical American kids' diet based on pasta, pizza, and chicken nuggets. They do not like traditional Polish dishes except for borshch and pierogi, which for them fall rather under pasta category together with ravioli and tortellini.

My younger son, Philip, is particularly difficult when it comes to trying any thing new. Luckily, sometimes he bows to the authority of his French teacher, who occasionally also teaches French cooking classes at his school. This is how Philip got introduced to green salad with balsamic vinegar, omelette, quiche, crème brûlée, and flan, all of which he eventually also got to like.

The other day, he came home and asked for leek soup, handing me the recipe he got at his French class. He never liked leeks so I was surprised but also happy to fulfil his wish. I took out leeks (which I almost always have in my refrigerator) sliced them and was about to start the soup, when I read the recipe and noticed that the soup needs to be simmered for eight hours. I did not have so much time that day and I hardly have so much to cook anything. But since I prepared leeks already I decided to make my favorite dish--a tart, hoping that since I knew he liked an onion tart and seems to like leek soup, he will also like a leek tart.

Leeks and walnuts make that tart very interesting. I like very much the contrast between the softness of the sweet and spicy leek filling, in which you can detect blue cheese, and the crunchiness of the walnut crust, which blend perfectly in the mouth.

Leek Tart on Walnut Crust
(For a 9-inch tart pan)

Ingredients for the crust:
1 and 1/2 cup all purpose unbleached flour,
1 and 1/2 cup ground walnuts,
1 stick butter,
3 tbsp iced water,
1 tsp sugar,
1/2 tsp salt.

For the filling:
3 medium leeks, washed carefully and sliced (they will make 4-5 cups),
2 eggs,
1 cup heavy whipping cream,
1/2 lb Italian Gorgonzola (but it can be any other blue cheese, Roquefort would be particularly good),
3 tbsp olive oil,
freshly ground pepper.

Preparation:
1. To make crust place flour, salt, sugar, and butter in a food processor. Pulse until the mixture turns into crumbs. Add walnuts and icy cold water. Run the processor until a smooth dough forms.
2. Roll out the dough on a surface slightly dusted with flour, forming a circle of about 11 inches in diameter. Using a rolling pin transfer the dough to a tart pan greased with butter. Place the pan in a freezer (for as long as it takes to make the filling).
3. Preheat oven to 375 F.
4. Heat the oil on a large frying pan. Add sliced leeks and fry for 8-10 minutes, until they soften up. Let them cool slightly.

5. Beat eggs and cream. Add crumbled blue cheese and pepper.
6. Place the crust in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, until the crust is baked but not yet gold.
7. Take out the crust from the oven. Place leeks on the bottom and pour the cream mixture on top of the leeks.
8. Lower temperature to 350F and bake the tart for about 40 minutes, until the filling rises and gets brownish on the surface.

Serve with a green lettuce and tomato salad.