Smoked Salmon Recipe for the Raclette Grill

If you love raclette like I do, you've already pulled your raclette grill out and it's sitting comfortably smack-dab in the middle of your dining table, just cuz it's November. It's amazing how versatile a cooking apparatus it is. I'm discovering all kinds of interesting ways to make yummy little morsels.

I recently came across an recipe using Smoked Salmon with a raclette grill instead of the typical charcuterie like my favorites: salami, prosciutto and Serrano ham.

Ingredients:
Smoked salmon, thinly sliced
Neuchatel or cream cheese
dill
fresh Spinach leaves
French baguette

Essentially, all you do is slice your baguette which you can toast on the top of your raclette grill. Feeling extravagant?-- Brush the grill first with garlic infused olive oil. Then, put about an ounce of cream cheese, a bit of smoked salmon, spinach and fresh dill in the coupelle to melt in the lower half of the grill . When melted, scrape the cheese mixture onto your grilled bread which now, has been transplanted to your plate. Dust with some ground nutmeg if it's convenient, and there you have it, yummy tapas for Friday night! Serve with a lovely white wine or rose.

Let's see... I might try scallops and scampi with pasta next.

Hosting a Raclette Party

Author: Michael Binetti

The word 'Raclette' can be used to refer to three things - a particular type of cheese, a grill that is placed on the dining table to melt cheese, and a type of meal or a manner of eating.

The Raclette cheese is a Swiss semi-firm cows-milk cheese that is very popular in Switzerland, and although originally from the Alps, it is also made in France. Good Raclette cheese is mild, creamy and slightly nutty, and is very ideal for melting. The classic use of Raclette cheese involves melting it and serving it with boiled potatoes, pickled onions, a variety of sliced meats, and vegetables. Most people believe that fondues is the most popular dish in Switzerland when it fact, Raclette is actually more popular than fondue in most parts of Switzerland. The term Raclette comes from the French word racler, which means "to scrape", pertaining to the fact that the melted cheese must be scraped from a grill and on to the plate of the diner.

Raclette cheese can be melted into different kinds of dishes, even fondue, or it may be eaten plain. Its creamy, mild taste fits well with an assortment of things, which is why Raclette cheese is a favorite for quick snacks and dinner cheese platters. A lot of people nowadays enjoy these Raclette dinners because they make a great venue for catching up with friends without the tedious food preparation.

For most of use who have just recently discovered Raclette may feel like we have stumbled on to the latest and perhaps the most enjoyable dinner party trend ever. A Raclette meal is pretty much like a fondue party, but better - the same socializing, but with more cooking options. Aside from being absolutely fun for the guests, a Raclette meal is also one of the easiest parties to hose. This is because much of the food preparation can be done ahead, while the cleanup afterwards is equally simple.

In a nutshell, Raclette party goes like this.

The Raclette grill usually serves about up to eight people, and can take different shapes - some Raclette grills are rectangular while some are round or oblong in shape. Although traditionally, the Raclette grill is made of wood, modern Raclette grills are available in most department stores today. While the cheese melts on the grill, the guests get to cook their own meats, sausages, fish and even vegetables on the grill. The melted cheese on the trays is then scraped out and onto a selection of side dishes (the most common of all, are small boiled potatoes). Guests cook, talk, eat, and repeat the entire process often a few times, for several enjoyable hours.

Be sure to offer your guests a cocktail, something dry but not too sweet - perhaps a good old wine or a martini. But what good would your Raclette party be if you do not have the best Raclette cheese? Organize your next Raclette party and order Raclette cheese today!

Buy your favorite cheese from idealcheese.com, New York's trusted gourmet cheese shop, serving cheese lovers for over 50 years. Our cheeses are guaranteed fresh and always hand-cut to order. For any questions about our cheese call us 1800-382-0109 for cheese.

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Make Pizza with Your Raclette Grill

A great little video showing how to use a raclette grill, Kiwi style, using the coupelles to make individualized pizzas-- what a great idea!



For the crusts, try any yeast flatbread and cut to size. The beauty of raclette is you can make and eat what you want!

Cheese and Raclette Spot

Swiss Gold Medal for the House of Switzerland

Some of the best eats around Vancouver during the Winter Olympics are described wonderfully well here.

Not to be missed the Dim Sum, the Canadian Atlantic seafood and the Raclette.

Can you guess what this is? (this foto and more, definitely worth seeing.)  If you guessed half a wheel of Raclette cheese on a Raclonette, 10 points for you! 

This wonderful Swiss tradition, where creamy pungent cheese gets grilled until slightly browned and bubbly and then scraped (racler in French) onto a plate of potatoes with a nice contrast of pickles on the side, is being celebrated at The House of Switzerland, Swiss headquarters for the 2010 Olympics. 

If you have a chance, they're dishing up a heart-attack inducing portion, with rind included, on crusty bread instead. A must-eat experience that goes with the must-see theme of being at the Games.

2010 New Year's Eve Raclette Fête

This year I didn't go overboard for Christmas... I followed Linus' advice and had more of a Charles Shultz kind-of-holiday season with commercialism with all of its insidious glory diminished. So often, we make more of Christmas than it ought to be, and we end up exhausted with decorations yet to put away and the weight of a new year ahead of us.

Still, existentialism aside, I'm very glad my sweet hubby used his hard-earned capitalist dollars to partake in the crazed consumerism of the holidays, buying me the Raclette grill I was hoping for-- and just in time for New Year' Eve! Here's what it looks like!

And because I didn't overdo it and now with my dream appliance, I want to invite a handful of friends over for New Year's Eve for a Raclette Fête !  This is so easy to prepare and so low-key that everyone, including myself the host, are guaranteed to have a wonderful evening.  I'll buy the Raclette cheese and the fingerling potatoes. I've asked each friend to bring something to go along with our meal:  Jill will bring the baby dill pickles and maybe some pickld asparagus, Marc the ham or salami, Deanna loves vegetables so I've asked her to bring a fresh veggie plate, Meredith will bring a couple kinds of bread and Pierce and Lily will each bring some white wine, like a Beaujolais.

This way I can extend the the joy, the memories, the fun and the laughter of being with ones near and dear without the stress to impress.  2010's gonna be grand!!!