Baked Camembert Tear & Share

Whilst a baked camembert by itself is wonderful, it is nothing without a wonderful loaf of bread to go with it, and considering that my parents live in the middle of nowhere in the french countryside, this means that if I want decent bread without a months notice, then I have to make it myself.

The recipe given here makes something of a centrepiece which looks wonderful, however, this dough will also make a wonderful baguette if you shape it differently, should you not wish to faff around as I have.

Start by making your bread dough, add the dry ingredients to a bowl and stir to combine, add the water and mix with a fork until combined into a smooth dough, scrape out onto a floured work surface and knead for five minutes, return to the bowl and cover with a cloth, leave in a warm place to rise until doubled in size. When risen knock back on a floured work surface, with your hands form the dough into a long sausage, and join the ends to make a ring big enough for the camembert box to fit into the middle.

Using scissors cut slits in the edge of the ring almost to the centre without splitting the ring, wrap an empty camembert box in aluminium foil and place it in the centre, place the ring onto a baking tray and leave in a warm place to rise until almost doubled in size.

When risen brush the top with beaten egg and bake in a hot oven for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and carefully extract the camembert box from the centre. Return to the oven for a further five minutes.

Meanwhile, remove the camembert from its box and remove the plastic wrapping, return to the box and place on a baking tray, lightly cut a cross in the rind on the top, and push two peeled cloves of garlic into the cheese, bake on a medium heat for 10 minutes until fully melted.

Put the bread on a board and place the cheese, still in its box, in the middle as in the picture. Add a smearing of chutney and serve, with a glass of red wine.

ingredients

for the bread

150ml water
225g white bread flour
1 tsp salt
2tsp dried yeast

1 round camembert
2 cloves garlic, peeled

chutney, to serve

Gruyere Cheese Risotto

This sounds like overkill, and I will admit that it is rather rich, but that makes this perfect comfort food, think of it as the more elegant cousin of mac & cheese.

There is a misconception that making risotto is challenging, that it requires skill or talent, this couldn't be any further from the truth, what it does take is time. Yes, it does require almost constant stirring, but very little concentration, and I find there to be something quite soothing and therapeutic about the constant stirring, it can be immensely relaxing after a long day.

Melt a large knob of butter, with a little vegetable oil to stop it burning, in a large frying pan, and cook some spring onions until soft and translucent. Add the arborio rice to the pan and keep stirring for around a minute. Add some wine and a teaspoonful of mustard, and let the wine cook down until it has been absorbed by the rice

Make up the vegetable or chicken stock, and turn up the heat under the rice. Add the stock to the frying pan, and stir the rice until the liquid is absorbed. You can either make up the stock in a saucepan and add it with a ladle, or you can make the stock in a jug, and pour it in. I prefer the latter, but both methods are perfectly acceptable.

Keep stirring in the stock until it has all been absorbed and the rice is tender, this should take about 20 minutes. When the rice is cooked through remove it from the heat, and add the cheese, folding it into the rice until all the cheese has melted.

Serve on warmed plates or bowls, sprinkled with a little chopped chive if wished.

ingredients

1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 finely sliced spring onions
300g arborio rice
125ml white wine
1/2 teaspoon french mustard
1 litre hot vegetable or chicken stock
125g chopped gruyere cheese
chopped fresh chives (optional)

In Praise of...Coulommiers

The best cheese in the world is made in France, the best cheese in france is made in the north, and the best cheese in the north is made in a small village called Coulommiers in the department of Seine et Marne, in the Ile de France region not so very far from where I now sit.

This lesser known cousin of Brie, which is also similar to camembert actually precedes both of these more popular cheeses, is actually one of the bestselling cheeses in france, but is unfortunately rarely exported.

Where this cheese exceeds and differs from both camembert and brie in different ways, it is firmer than camembert, and although the gooeyness of camembert is certainly an advantage when it comes to baking a whole round and scooping out the centre, however when being eaten cold, a firmer coulommiers is certainly welcome. The texture of coulommiers is closer to brie, but it has a tangier flavour than the former, and is less far salty.

Traditionally this cheese has been served with truffle, and has also been served with carrot, however given the delicate flavour of this cheese, I feel that it is best served alone, joined only perhaps by a cote-du-rhone, the lightness of which won’t overpower this fragrant cheese.

Coulommiers is a soft white cheese made from generally unpasteurised cows milk, the cheese has been made in this area since the reign of St Louis, when it was presented to the king and his cousins by a shepherd. The cheese was subsequently made famous by King Philippe Auguste, and was commonly enjoyed at the french court with cider, a delightful precursor to our contemporary pairing of wine and cheese.