How lucky am I? Recently fortune smiled on me and I was sent some Comte cheese from PaxtonandWhitfield.co.uk to try. I need to confess now that there are two things I am a bit rubbish at, one is wine and the other is cheese and that is a bit of a let down as a food blogger. However, trying these three cheeses has made me a convert to Comte. The three types were Plenitude, Androuet and Jeune and each one tasted delicious yet with a slight difference to each other. The similarities were the slight nuttiness and silky texture. It is a pale colour although the aged one was a little stronger in taste and appearance. It is a Gruyère with a rind and was a joy to eat, savoury but with a touch of sweetness that appeared at the end. It is made from unpasteurised cows milk and matured in caves for up to two years. Apparently there are over 80 flavours that can be tasted in this glorious cheese but all I know is it tasted absolutely wonderful just by itself. However I felt it only right that I should cook with it to try it out rather than scoffing the lot in one huge cheese gorging frenzy.
As you can see I was in there before I even took the photo which is a touch embarrassing. I did ask Tony to try them out but that was hopeless. His view was that the first cheese was very nice, as was the second and third so that wasn’t incredibly helpful although I suppose it was factually accurate.
I was going to show you the actual recipe but then I thought I would suggest that you go and buy your own copy as it is a stonking cookbook and one of the ones that I actually use (as you can see by the stains and bookmarks). I knew Daniel would have Comte recipes and that is his region which he speaks lovingly of.
Part one, easy peasy, sliced potatoes and grated Comte cheese. Now I could have got out my mandoline or food processor but I am coming round to the opinion that maybe I only need 3 knives and a good chopping board. That doesn’t stop me lusting after all the latest gadgets but are they just self indulgent? By the way the Board was made for me by a lovely group called the Padworth Woodturners and was a bargain plus it doesn’t blunt my knives.
Milk, cream, bayleaf, nutmeg and seasoning sorted, half the cheese added to the milk, artfully arranged (!) in the dish and finished with the rest of the cheese.
Whoop and there is the final dish, utterly delicious. It felt almost sacrilegious to use this superb cheese to cook with but if it is good enough for Daniel Galmiche then it is good enough for me. Co-incidentally while this was cooking I was watching Daniel on the wonderful Saturday Morning Kitchen Best Bites which was a bit surreal if not a little stalkerish.
The best thing about Saturday mornings is sitting catching up on the papers on my ipad and watching Saturday Kitchen and I love it when chefs I know pop up. Daniel did a great chicken recipe recently and today I saw a mad thing about melon vac packed and sous vided (?) for days to taste like fois gras. How random is that? Daniel needs his own food programme, he is a joy to watch and very entertaining.