Tuesday, April 30, 2013

French Cheese dishes, à la Australie.


Cheese is on my mind today, and as I am always intrigued by how one nation interprets the  cuisine of another, I give you some “French Cheese Dishes” from an Australian newspaper, the Chronicle of  Adelaide, on November 18. 1922. I am particularly intrigued by the idea of baked apples with cheese sauce, and the cheese shells sound pretty delicious too.

French Cheese Dishes.

Here are some delicious and nourishing cheese dishes, easily made and easily digested— and a very good substitute for those who cannot take milk.

Sweet White Cheese.
This is meant to be eaten with fresh fruit, instead of cream or custard. In winter, when fruit is hard to get, offer sponge fingers with it.
Take a quart of good milk, and let it go so sour that it separates itself into solid and liquid parts. Pour it into a clean towel over a basin, and let it drain all night. Next day the curds that remain
in the towel will be dry enough for use.
Put them into a big dish, add a quarter of a pound of finest powdered sugar, and stir them together with a wooden spoon till they are completely mixed,  and no little grains of sugar can be felt.
Then begin to add new milk, drop by drop, stirring all the while, till the mixture is reduced to the consistency of whipped cream. Serve as soon as possible. If it must be kept set it in a very cool place.
It has a slightly sharp taste, through all its sweetness, which is very refreshing. Many people prefer it to real cream, and find it easier to digest.

Potted Cheese.
This is perfectly delicious for sandwiches, and it is also very convenient for journeys or picnics, as it can so nicely be moulded into those little cardboard cream jars, which are so light and easy to carry.
Let one quart of milk turn, and drain off the curds as above. Measure them, and mix into them their own bulk of grated cheese. The cheese chosen should be as soft and fresh as possible.
Rub your basin and your wooden spoon with a bead of cut garlic, and then stir the curds and cheese thoroughly together, adding salt and red pepper to taste. When very well mixed smooth into pots. If you want it to keep for more than three days run a little melted margarine on
top.

Cheese Mayonnaise.
Only a very little of this can be eaten at a time, as it is extremely rich.
Make a mayonnaise sauce in the ordinary way, and stir grated cheese into it, till the mixture thickens up to the consistency of butter on a cold day.
The sauce will take up an astonishing amount of cheese provided that it is thoroughly well stirred. Put it through a large rose forcer on to small pieces of bread, and serve as a savory, or spread it between crackers and serve as sandwiches.
Be careful not to add too much salt to the mayonnaise in the first place.
Use a strong cheese - Canadian cheddar is very good indeed.

Cream Cheese Sauce
It is quite a change from the ordinary cold sauces and salad dressings, and it has a fresh, clean flavor, which many people appreciate.
Take half of a small cream cheese, and put it into a basin with half its own bulk of grated cheese, salt, pepper, and just a tiny dash of made mustard. Stir them with a wooden spoon till they are thoroughly well mixed. Now begin to add cold milk, drop by drop, working it in as thoroughly and carefully as you work the oil into a mayonnaise sauce. If you go too fast you will get a curdled result instead of a smooth one. Continue mixing till the sauce is of a pouring consistency.
This is dream-like as a salad dressing, excellent also on cold fish, and on all kinds of cold cooked vegetables.
I eat it with stewed apples, and simply love it. About the greatest treat that madame can give me is baked apples with cream cheese sauce. Only, the sauce must be made without either pepper or mustard. Just try it, and tell me what you think of it.

Cheese Shells
Beat the whites of two eggs to a froth so stiff that the fork will stand in it. Add pepper, salt, and so much grated cheese that the mixture becomes just stiff enough to stand in little piles. Stir the cheese in as gently as possible, in order to avoid crushing down the fluffiness of the egg.
Have ready a deep pan of fat heated to smoking -point. Take up with a fork a little lump of' the mixture, not larger than a walnut. Tap the fork on the side of the pan, to shake off the lump into the fat. In a very few seconds it will turn brown, puff up enormously, and swim to the top. Drain them very well, keep them hot till the time, of service comes, and send in  liberal dishful. For,  besides being so nice that folks are tempted to eat a great many  of them, they are deceptive things, being mere shells, which crumble to nothing  in the mouth.

No comments: