Food & Drinks

Recipes

Smeltende Kaas

Where I make half of the editorial team happy with a box of macarons, a bar of Tony's or a large piece of brownie, you make me incredibly happy with anything that has cheese in or on it. In any form, cheese is and remains my ultimate comfort food.

So on Friday I joined a colleague at whose place I almost fell off my chair from the smell coming from the oven. And yes, a cozy plate was placed in front of me with warm sourdough bread and a steaming Vacherin Mont d'Or. MONT D'OR. Boys, boys, at that moment calories no longer exist. You have to try this, you want this.

And actually, this applies to all melting cheeses. I gathered the tastiest recipes for you. Note: do not read this during your four o'clock slump.

1. Snack bread (and you can make this tonight)

  •  1 whole loaf of bread
  •  150 grams of butter
  •  2 cloves of garlic
  •  Chives
  •  Sun-dried tomatoes
  •  2 mozzarella balls

Take a whole loaf of bread (unsliced), preferably a fresh pain de campagne. Cut it horizontally and vertically (note: not all the way through). Then make the herb butter by pressing the garlic cloves and chopping the chives finely. Mix everything well together. Cut the mozzarella and sun-dried tomatoes into pieces. Distribute the herb butter and cheese between the pieces of bread. Don't be too stingy; you can never stuff in too much cheese. Bake the bread for about 15 minutes until the cheese is nicely melted.

2. Mac ‘n’ cheese (no, not the kind from a box)

  • 2 slices of white bread
  • 60 grams of butter
  • 250 ml of milk
  • 20 grams of flour
  • 2 tsp salt
  • Fresh nutmeg
  • Black pepper
  • 100 grams of cheddar cheese
  • 100 grams of Gruyere or Pecorino
  • 250 grams of macaroni

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Cut the slices of bread into small cubes. Meanwhile, melt a tablespoon of butter and add the melted butter to the bread pieces. Mix well and set aside. Melt the remaining butter in a pan and slowly add the flour. Keep stirring until lumps form. Then slowly pour in the milk while continuing to stir. Once the lumps are gone and you have a smooth mixture, add the pepper and salt, the nutmeg, and three-quarters of the cheese. Stir well until all the cheese is absorbed. Cook the macaroni al dente and add the macaroni to the melted cheese sauce.

Take a large baking dish and grease it with a bit of olive oil. Spoon all the macaroni with the sauce into the baking dish and distribute the remaining cheese over the dish. Finally, add the bread pieces and put it in the oven. Bake the macaroni until the top layer turns golden brown (in at least 20 minutes).

3. Nachos from the oven (for a hungover Sunday afternoon)

  • Bag of nacho chips
  • Cup of crème fraîche
  • Jalapeño peppers (just the ones from a jar)
  • Bag of aged cheese
  • Guacamole (preferably homemade)

Well, dump a bag of nachos into a baking dish, add a few dollops of crème fraîche, sprinkle the jalapeño peppers on top, and the whole (YES, THE WHOLE) bag of cheese. I can't make it more culinary than this. Just 10 minutes under the grill and serve with guacamole.

And yes, that guacamole, you make it very simply like this:

You take an avocado, peel it, and remove the pit. Mash the avocado with a fork, add a clove of garlic chopped up, finely chopped red chili, and coriander, and a squeeze of lime juice. Why would you still buy a jar?

If you can't get through that Friday night, I don't know what else to say.