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The Tour heads to the Alps, land of cheese
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Photo courtesy wikipedia
America seems to be continuing its fascination of comfort foods, a trend which leads to the simple, satisfying meals in life. Macaroni and cheese is a common dish at restaurants these days, usually doctored up with truffle oil as an excuse for charging so much.
The Tour de France crossed over from France into the Swiss Alps a place renown for fine cheeses—a rugged, beautiful country, scoured with difficult mountain climbs. During yesterday's stage Contador won with an impressive burst of energy at the finish and left the other challengers in his dust as he made it to the top of the mountain at Verbier and assumed control of the race.
These mountain towns all make distinct and delicious cheeses, the way they have been for many generations. These are not the supermarket Swiss cheeses (depending on where you shop) and there are some remarkable cheeses from this region.
One in particular is gruyère, which is a cheese that holds up under heat. A hard cow cheese with a semi grainy texture, gruyère is perfect for the top of french onion soup and in fondues. In the classic recipe of mac and cheese, it helps add an extra complex dimension of sharp gooeyness. With potatoes, it is outstanding.
Potatoes Au Gratin
3-4 baking potatoes (russet)
1 pint heavy cream
8 oz. Grated gruyère (or emmental)
salt and pepper
soft butter.
Preheat your oven to 375. Peel and slice the potatoes into thin rounds. Heat the cream in a pan and add the slices of potato and cook over moderate heat until tender. Remove the slices and layer them in a buttered baking dish with the salt and pepper and cheese. Add the cream and cover with foil. Bake in the oven until hot and melted, remove the cover and brown under a broiler. Rest before slicing.
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