Does Cheese Make YOU Dream?

“Many’s the long night I have dreamed of cheese – toasted mostly” said poor Ben Gunn after being marooned three years on Treasure Island, “and woke up again and here I were … You mightn’t happen to have a piece of cheese about you now?”

Poor man, its pathetic isn’t it? To think of him sitting there all alone among the palm trees and mosquitoes, dreaming about food. Thinking, perhaps of  jacket potatoes squelching  with cheese and melted butter, of cheese soufflés, and crumbly blue Wensleydale with a slice of rich fruit cake. He may even have dreamed of bacon, eggs, and that ripe, nutty odour of grilled kidneys as it floats upstairs form the kitchen at breakfast time. Or of lumps of Camembert and Gorgonzola.

On the other hand, perhaps he was thinking of that marvellous French soupe à l’oignon which was a hot favourite in the old-fashioned Paris bistros. It’s very filling and absolutely gorgeous, but I have never seen it on a desert island.

Soupe à l’Oignon

Melt 2 tablespoon of butter in a big saucepan and in it gently fry 2 or even 3 largish sliced onions. Put the lid on it so they go nice and blond, remaining soft and tender. Then add salt, pepper, a sprinkling of flour and 1 litre of water, stir, bring it to the boil and just let it simmer for about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile cut about a dozen chunks of bread 3cm thick. I find it best to use is from a nice slim crispy French stick. Toast them on one side, then, 3 minutes before the soup is ready, turn the bread over and put a thick slice of cheese on each piece and pop it under the grill until it begins to trickle down the sides. Place these in a tureen, pour your hot onion soup over the top and each at once before the bread has time to get soggy. Cheddar cheese goes well in this recipe but rather prefer Gruyere even though may be a little more expensive, and it goes into those stringy bits when it’s melted. I can almost taste it now.

The nicest thing about autumn is it does give you an appetite after the long lazy days of summer, not knowing what to eat. and, indeed what could be better on cool misty evening than to sit round the fire in your slippers eating toasted cheese. Another thing is, cheese goes beautifully with any form of drink. Red wine, beer, stout, hot mulled plonk or what have you. So close the blinds, poke up the fire and gather round for cheese and chestnuts. I remember years ago back in the UK the country pubs where I lived used to do a superb toasted cheese thing dribbling with red wine, all hot and steaming.

Toasted Cheese

You toast a nice thick slice of bread then lay it by the fire on a plate or pop it in a warm oven. Pour a glass of red wine over it and let it soak up the wine in the warmth. Then cut some cheese very thin and lay it thickly on the bread (just like in the onion soup recipe) and put it back into a very hot oven or under the grill, it will be toasted brown almost at once. My advice is: Eat it as rapidly as possible.

Before I go I would like to share this lovely simple Italian dish which is very cheap to make. We often have it at home for supper and I am sure Ben Gunn would have enjoyed it too.

Gnocchi alla Romana (Cheese Charlotte)

First cook 100g of semolina in a pan with a little boiling salted water until it is thick and smooth – thicker than you would make for a semolina pudding. Add 25g  of grated cheese. Take it off the heat, wait a couple of minutes then stir in 2 eggs mixing thoroughly. Now pour the mixture into a wide shallow dish in a layer about 1 cm thick, and let it get cold. Next butter a pie dish or baking dish, then with your fingers roll the cooked semolina into little gnocchi – sort of tiny sausage things – or if you like, just cut out little rounds with a tiny pastry cutter. Place them in the buttered dish with 100g of melted butter, a sprinkling of salt and pepper and 100g of grated cheese over the top. Bake in a moderate oven 180ºC/350ºF/Gas 4 for about 30 minutes.

This is a good dish to prepare in the morning and bake off at dinner/supper time.

Have you tried any of these recipes?  If so I would be most interested to hear your comments. Was it Good? Was it Bad? Or just dreadful?   You can leave your comments below.

Category: Blog