Pour combattre le froid, comme repas de midi nous nous sommes fait des sandwichs aux blettes, au jambon, et au fromage. Beaucoup de fromage. Yesterday the temperature fell steadily during the day, as a cold front from the north moved over us, bringing us chilly rain. This morning the temperature is probably about +2ºC. That's in the mid-30s in ºF. The traditional saints de glace have arrived about a week early this year.
So what about a Swiss chard sandwich? Ham with chard, melted Comté cheese, ricotta, and Dijon mustard...
I drained some cooked chard and chopped it fairly finely. Then I mixed in a few spoonfuls of soft ricotta cheese and a spoonful of Dijon mustard. I also spread some ricotta on the bottom slices of bread (two sandwiches) before laying a slice of ham on each.
Then I sort of mounded and spread some of the chard & ricotta mixture over the ham slices. On top of that, I put on a good amount of grated Comté cheese.
Comté is basically what we call Swiss cheese in the U.S., and the sandwiches would be good with Cheddar or whatever other cheese you like. I put on the top slice of bread, spread some ricotta on it too, and then put on more grated Comté. The sandwiches, which we baked in the oven, were good with all that melted cheese inside and on top. The mustardy tang of the chard-ricotta mixture was good with it. You could easily make this kind of sandwich with spinach instead. And remember: this is a sandwich you eat with a knife and fork.
With the chard & cheese sandwiches we had a salad of romaine lettuce, hearts of palm, black olives, and corn, garnished with cerfeuil (chervil) from the back yard and dressed with vinaigrette.
Having some ancestry in the Franche-Comté region, I must say that only the color of Comté cheese compare with American Swiss cheese which is rather bland when Comté has a delicious nutty flavor completely absent in the Anerican cheese. The same goes for Swiss cheese made in Switzerland vs its American counterpart! To be honest, when in the States I buy some Anerican-made Brie cheese made according to a French recipe which is decent and not bad at all.
ReplyDeleteThis sandwich is intriguing and looks and sounds delicious.
I think Americans who live in big cities, where there are cheese shops and good cheese selections at, for example, Whole Foods, can get good cheeses. But if you've never really tasted French- or Swiss-made cheeses, then you might be okay with U.S. "Swiss cheese" — especially once you melt it. But do you wonder why I recommend Cheddar? If you can find the white Cheddar rather than just the orange variety, so much the better. Is that American Brie made in Wisconsin? Can't you get imported cheeses at HT?
DeleteTBH, I don't know if the Brie is made in Wisconsin, but, considering, it is rather good and I enjoy it. Yes, American Swiss cheese is decent when melted, which is the only way I use it.
DeleteFrom time to time, HT has an imported Camembert (can't remember its name right now), the same I can find at Monoprix.
For some forgotten reason, I stood away from Cheddar (maybe I didn't like the orange color) for all these years until recently when I tasted some white Cheddar. I was really surprised how good it was! So I'll try it again.
I recently read a blog post, who knows where, by an American, I think, complaining that French people are completely prejudiced about cheddar. They think it can't possibly be good because its English. I do remember that my mother was very happy in 1995, when we spent a week together in England, to find good white Cheddar there. She took a pound or two of it back to N.C. with her. Did you know that it was apparently the Romans who took Cantal cheese and the method for making it to England, where it turned into Cheddar? I buy it sometimes at the supermarkets here in Saint-Aignan/Noyers, but I normally buy Cantal because it is at least as good as the Cheddar we get here and is probably a little less expensive. Do you cook with that American Brie you buy? Or just eat it as a cheese course or snack?
DeleteSince my maternal grandmother -- you've heard of her many times! -- said Un repas sans fromage est comme une journée sans soleil I have a piece of Brie after each lunch when in Arlington. Here, in Paris, it is Selles-sur-Cher goat cheese.
DeleteSelles-sur-Cher. Another coincidence. We just watched a documentary on France 5 about goat cheese. We learned that Selles-sur-Cher, though it has an AOC or AOP designation, is basically an industrial cheese these days. I knew that S-sur-C could be made with frozen milk, but I didn't know it was no longer a farm cheese.
DeleteDid Kraft buy Selles-sur-Cher yet? Very disappointing it is no longer a farm cheese. I like to foster artisans when at all possible and local people, but if this new industrial cheese is good, I'll keep buying it.
DeleteWikipédia says that 40% of the production of Selles-sur-Cher is farm cheese, so not industrial. I'm not sure if I misunderstood something in the France 5 documentary I saw. I'll have to watch it again, here on DailyMotion.
DeleteKen -my bet is heaven is hoping you will keep your tradition of cooking these delicious-looking plates for those up there when you arrive (far off - I'm sure!)! Wow! There is nothing like a melted cheese (comfort food - is my term) sandwich and a green salad like yours on a cold day. I can just taste it now - even though I am having my breakfast currently! That salad looked like it had cheese, too, when I saw those white cylinders - but then I read the description and it must be the heart of palm?
ReplyDeleteYes, those white "logs" are hearts of palm. We like them. Glad you can get white Cheddar. I'm now thinking I should make my next chard or spinach sandwiches with goat cheese.
DeleteOh - I forgot to add that I found Dubliner's White Cheddar a few years ago and that has replaced my Dubliner's Sharp Cheddar. I just love that very sharp taste.
ReplyDeleteOoooh, I bet that was a delicious meal!
ReplyDeleteI see on Wikipediat in the article about Cheddar cheese that America "Cheddar that does not contain annatto [a natural yellow-orange coloring] is frequently labelled "white Cheddar" or "Vermont Cheddar" (regardless of whether it was actually produced there). Vermont's three creameries produce Cheddar cheeses: the Cabot Creamery, which produces the 16-month-old "Private Stock Cheddar", the Grafton Village Cheese Company, and Shelburne Farms."
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