Posted on 09/29/2018 5:48:07 PM PDT by Jamestown1630
I recently discovered Raclette – which term can refer to a type of cheese, a kind of dinner party, or a unique table-top grill. As a dish, Raclette is similar to Fondue, and evolved from the practice of Swiss cowherds taking cheese with them as they tended their herds in the mountains, and melting the cheese over campfires to eat on bread. Traditional accompaniments are potatoes, gherkins, pickled onions, and various cured meats.
It looks like a fun way to entertain in that it’s a dish or dinner where everyone is involved in choosing and cooking their own portion; but it’s less messy than fondue, and offers more variety in terms of ingredients and ways to cook them. You can grill or warm over various meats and vegetables on the top of the grill, while melting portions of cheese in the little pans underneath. And if you don't want to make a meal of it, I'm thinking it could be a nice break-the-ice hors d'oeuvre with drinks, to get a dinner or cocktail party started.
It also seems uniquely suited to low-carb eating, adding interest and variety.
Raclette cheese can be be purchased online; but it can be difficult to source locally in many areas of the US. I believe it will become more available, but in the meantime you can substitute Gruyere, Emmental, Fontina or Appenzeller.
Here, from the website Viva, is a typical recipe for two:
http://www.viva.co.nz/article/food-drink/raclette-and-vegetable-grill-recipe/
and here’s an ad/demonstration for one of the popular brands:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Wfqts9weaY
Raclette machines come in various shapes and sizes; I think I’m in the market for one, and if anyone has one they like, let me know!
Here are reviews of some of the other brands; the Boska Holland ‘mini’ looks great if you just want to try it out, or want one just for your small family:
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I also discovered ‘Texas Tornado Cake’, from Phyllis Stokes of ‘Southern Frugal’; it’s a cake with fruit cocktail, brown sugar, nuts and coconut; a little more complicated than the average ‘dump’ cake, but looks really wonderful. There are lots of variations on this cake, including one using canned pineapple instead of the fruit cocktail. Phyllis includes links to the recipes she used/adapted:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8jyrEl31vs
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I’ve been an avid birdwatcher all my life, and while searching for something bird-related I happened to find the YouTube channel of Maurice Baker, a gentleman in Shropshire, England who photographs the feathered life in his garden. He has many informative and beautiful videos about birds, but also many of Nature and wildlife in general, with outstanding photography accompanied by restful, ambient music:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GN73qE3TWmg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_fzRygNIUY
About Maurice:
https://www.youtube.com/user/MauriceBaker100/about
-JT
(Disclaimer: I am not associated/compensated in any way with regard to the promotion of the various appliances and other items - or the websites - that I write about on this thread. They are simply things that I’ve personally found interesting and want to share.)
Ok, so I’ve had time to look through my new “Complete America’s Test Kitchen TV Show 2019 Cookbook” and it’s worse than what I posted earlier. I was watching the show last night and tried to find the recipe for the avgolemono lemon and rice soup. It’s not there. Not in the index under chicken, or rice, or lemon, or soup, or Greek. It isn’t in the topic section of chicken or soups. So, they lied about it being a COMPLETE book of all their recipes.
The sections are a total mess. I look for recipes with what I have on hand. If I have a beef roast, then I expect to quickly look through the beef section and find a recipe. Not with this book. You have to look through the soup section, the Italian section, the what’s for dinner section, the brunch section, the pasta section, etc., etc., etc. Oh, yeah, and don’t forget to look in the back past all the advertising for tools and such for the 2019 season section. Then, you have to look in the index and flip back and forth through 14 dozen beef recipes to see if each recipe might be good.
ENOUGH ALREADY! It’s too much trouble to find anything in it and it’s false advertising not to have all their recipes in it.
DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK!
We have some of the cookbooks from the early years of the series; I haven’t used them much lately, but don’t recall being disappointed in them.
Maybe the quality went down - due to the loss of Chris Kimball?
Chris isn’t anywhere in this edition.
It even has misspelled words and would fail 5th grade grammar.
I think he left somewhere around 2016-2017.
I have the Cooks All Time Best Chocolate Recipe booklet, and it is awesome. Some really great recipes for desserts. My family has requested the Triple Chocolate Mousse cake from now on for every Christmas dinner. Time consuming, but worth it.
That looks very tasty, and very pretty, too!
They make some that run on tea-lights, if you just want to melt cheese. I wondered how well that would do, but some of them actually have pretty good reviews. Do an Amazon search on ‘Raclette Tea Light’.
I tried to find the one on the Viva website with the curved pedestal, but it didn’t show up in my searches. I’m still researching...
I love Aldi! It’s an odd little store, but has some very unique items; and sometimes American things that we can never find in other stores in near driving distance. I especially love it at Christmas time, with all the pretty holiday candies.
My husband is the pickle expert, and he’s asking what brand you buy. We haven’t noticed what you reference, but it may help to buy refrigerated ones instead of the ones on the regular shelves.
Your post reminded me of Duke Zeibert’s restaurant and pickles - both great memories in the DC area:
I love cheese, too. I can’t think of a better meal than the school cafeteria Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup.
I think your points about it are correct but boy I have enjoyed some items I have prepared from there. Try some of the stews.
Someone on FR told me a long time ago that you can train Hummers to eat from your hand. I bought some of these little ‘button’ feeders, but haven’t had the time to try them out. Hummingbirds are so bold and pugnacious, I don’t think it would be hard to train them:
Thanks that’s a good idea and I have a bag of tea lights that’s been sitting around for years. BTW way I had a tiny bit of yesterdays grilled veggies left over. Enough when chopped about a cups worth, with a little cheese so I scrambled an egg and made an omelet. Yummy! Raclette is a little out of my price range though, we bought it on vacation, goodies to bring home. The tea light warmers I have seen in restaurants to keep butter warm for lobsters.
I think any kind of melty Swiss cheese would work. I’ll probably try it first with Gruyere.
I looked at it again......could be that was improvised for the picture?
LOL! Do you put the potato chips IN the sandwich? My brother used to do that as a kid, and I found out that it was pretty good, and still do it ;-)
I don’t know - it looks like it’s a part of the design of the machine.
ING 1/4 cup good olive oil 6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced 1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme leaves 1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary leaves
teaspoon kosher salt 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 1 crusty French baguette
METHOD Distribute Val D'Osta Fontina cubes evenly in a 12-inch cast-iron pan. Drizzle on the olive oil. Combine the garlic, thyme, and rosemary and sprinkle it over. S/p; broiler 5" from heat 6 min, til cheese is melted and bubbling and starts to brown.
Serve family-style-right out of the oven in the cast-iron pan with crusty chunks of bread to dip.
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