Gratin au Reblochon

Some of the best cheeses (and the smelliest) I've tried have been those which my friend G has introduced me to from her home country of Switzerland. Though typical grocery stores may not carry a multitude of good cheese, the Kauppahalli, or Market Hall in Hakaniemi or in the Satama, will have almost everything you're looking for (I'm still searching for good sharp cheddar- not Pilgrim's brand!).

Reblochon is a cheese originally from the French Alps, during a time which taxes were paid by how much milk the cows produced. So dairy farmers often did not milk the cow fully, and waited until the milk was measured, then used the remaining richer milk to make their own cheese, such as this one.

This is a recipe G used last weekend at a party she and T threw for another successful benchmark at work passed. Congrats G! There were other French speakers there, mostly from Belgium, and they certainly appreciated her hard work (and duh, her gratin au reblochon!)

Gratin au Reblochon

• 1 kg potatoes, peeled, boiled, then sliced thinly
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup cream
• 1/3 cup dry white wine
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 leek, sliced
• 4 tbs butter, melted
• nutmeg, salt, and pepper, to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 210C.
2. Rub the gratin dish with a clove of garlic.
3. Saute the onion and leek in 2 tbs of butter until soft. Adding seasoning as desired.
4. Layer half of the potato slices in the dish, layer the onion and leek, then add the remaining potatoes.
5. Combine milk, cream, wine, and remaining 2 tbs of butter, and pour over the layers.
6. Grate or shave as much of the rind from the reblochon round as possible, and cut the round horizontally to create two thinner rounds of cheese. (this tends to be a bit messy, so you can use a helping hand, or a large spatula).
7. Top the gratin with the rounds, rind facing up, soft side down.
8. Bake gratin for about 30 minutes, turn down the oven to 180C and bake for another 15 minutes.

This was a great hit! G made three, two with smoked ham and onion, and one with leek and onion for me, what a sweetheart. <3.>