Fromage Fort
Serves 6-8
If you’re a cheese-lover, this is the recipe you’ve been looking for to use up those odds and ends of various cheeses.
The character of the dish will vary according to the cheeses you’ve got on hand, but I’d always recommend using at least three different cheeses.
Ingredients #
- ½ lb. assorted bits of cheese (trim off any rinds or dried bits)
- 1 clove garlic
- ¼ c. dry white wine
- 1 tbsp. cognac
- 1 tbsp. softened butter
- Tabasco sauce
Instructions #
Put the cheese pieces in the bowl of a food processor with the garlic clove, wine, cognac, a few drops of Tabasco, a pinch of salt, and generous grindings of black pepper. Process the mixture until creamy (which may take anywhere from 30 seconds for very soft cheeses up to several minutes if you’re using harder cheeses such as Gruyere, Parmesan or Manchego). Taste the mixture – cheese is generally fairly salty, but if more salt is needed you can add it. Add the butter and pulse a few times until thoroughly blended.
Pack in a bowl or crock. This can be served immediately, or covered and refrigerated. In either case, it should be served at room temperature.