I named another popular cheese dessert délicieux Ritz Carlton. These délicieux combined one-fourth cup cream cheese to three-fourths cup of the same heavy Vermont cream used for the coeurs. I rolled up each serving in a special parchment wrapper just large enough to hold a few spoonfuls of the mixture. Each wrapper was imprinted with the name of the dessert and looked most attractive when it arrived at the table neatly rolled, the ends smoothed off with a warm spatula. Of course we made our délicieux freshly every day. Guests of many years' standing still remind me how much they miss these cheese desserts now that the hotel has closed its doors. One consolation is that if yon can get the necessary heavy cream you can easily make the desserts at home. I realize that it is hard to find such cream unless you live near a farm.
I could not begin to tell you how many recipes there are for using cheese in cookery. Each country has its own preferences. In America, the Cheddar cheese seems to have great popularity, but French cooks believe that Cheddar has too strong a flavor and too high a fat content to be well suited for dishes other than Welsh rabbits or grilled sandwiches. In France, we favor Swiss and Parmesan types for our cuisine and grate them to use almost interchangeably. If the Swiss cheese is too moist to be grated, it can be cut into fine dice. You will find these cheeses excellent melted in sauces or sprinkled on top of a dish to be browned. They add a wonderful nuance of flavor which blends with other ingredients rather than overpowering them. A soufflé, too, with its many egg whites, has a lighter, more delicate consistency when Swiss or Parmesan cheese goes into it.
I have selected for this article recipes which call only for cottage cheese, Parmesan, or Swiss, because these cheeses are the most dependable. They can be purchased nearly anywhere, and their flavor and fat content are always predictable. You can therefore use them with reliance where other cheeses, because of their variability, might fail you.
Soup à la Pavese
Pour 5 cups boiling broth into an oven-proof casserole. Saute 6 thick slices of French bread in butter until they are golden brown on both sides. Roll the sautéed bread in grated Parmesan cheese and float them on the broth. Break an egg on each slice and put the casserole in a hot oven (450° F.) or under the broiler flame for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the eggs are set.
Diablotins
To 1 beaten egg yolk add enough grated Parmesan cheese to make a paste the consistency of a thick sauce. Season the paste with salt and cayenne pepper to taste. Cut flâtes, small French bread sticks, into slices ¼ inch thick. Heap a little mound of the cheese mixture on each and arrange the slices on a baking tray. Brown the diablotins in a hot oven (450° F.) Or under the broiler flame. and serve them floating in a rich beef or chicken consommé.
Fondue Neuchâtel
Rub an earthenware casserole with a cut clove of garlic and put in it 1 ½ pounds of grated Swiss cheese and 1 ½ cups dry white wine. Cook the wine and cheese Over a low heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, until the mixture is creamy. Stir in 1 tablespoon potato starch mixed with a little cold water, and season the fondue with salt and pepper to taste.
When ready to serve, add 2 ounces kirsch and place the casserole on a récbaud, or table heater, to keep it hot. Serve with large cubes of bread which are pierced with forks and dipped in the simmering fondue. No liquor should be served with this dish, but after it is eaten, hot coffee or tea is passed with a little kirsch.
Cheese Toast Vaudoise
In a saucepan put ½ pound of grated Swiss cheese and ¼ cup white wine and cook over gentle heat, stirring until the cheese melts and the mixture is the consistency of a thick paste. Add 1 egg, beaten, and a little salt and pepper. Spread freshly toasted bread with the cheese mixture and brown in a hot oven (450° F.) or under the broiler flame.
Fondne Chez Soi
In an earthenware casserole protected from direct contact with the fire by an asbestos pad, melt 2 tablespoons butter and add 2 cups frontage blane, or cottage cheese. Cook the cheese very slowly in the butter, stirring constantly, until the fondue is creamy. Serve with cubes of bread to be dipped into the fondue.
Cheese and Potato Pie
Beat 2 cups creamy cottage cheese until it is smooth and press it through a fine sieve. Add ¼ cup sour cream, 2 ½ cups hot mashed potatoes, and ½ teaspoon salt, and mix well. Line the bottom and sides of a 10-inch plate with pie dough and (ill the plate with the cheese and potato mixture. Brush the top with a little milk and dot with small pieces of soft butter. Bake the pie in a medium oven (350' F.) for about 45 minutes, or until golden brown, and serve warm.
Ramekin of Cheese
Butter a round earthenware casserole. Remove the crusts from 6 slices of bread and cut each slice in half. Cut Swiss cheese into 12 thin slices the Size of the bread. Arrange the bread and cheese in a ring in the bottom of the dish, overlapping each by about an inch. In a bowl beat 2 eggs, stir in 2 cups milk, a little salt, and grated nutmeg and pour the mixture over the bread and cheese. Place the casserole in a pan containing 1 inch of hot water and bake in a moderate oven (375° F.) for about 30 minutes, or until golden brown and glazed.
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