Retro Recipes and Traditional Fare

With the blustery weather the Northern hemisphere is having right now, there are plenty of reasons to stay in and gather with family over holiday food. And for safety's sake, I just hope that is what most people are doing. There are many dishes that create a sense of togetherness, but none is as famous as fondue. This dish of melted cheese originates from the Alps. The Swiss popularized and designated it a national dish in the 1930s. It eventually crossed the pond and became extremely popular in suburban America during the 1960s. There are also French and Italian versions, like Fonduta, as it's called in Italy.

Fonduta is a specialty of Piedmont and Valle d’Aosta. It is made with fontina, a young cow's milk cheese that melts much like mozzarella. Its taste is similar to other Alpine cheeses, like Gruyère and Emmental from Switzerland. The big difference between Swiss fondue and fonduta is that the Italian recipe does not include wine, garlic, or cornstarch as thickener. Instead fonduta is made with butter, milk, and egg yolks as thickener. It comes together much like custard and is made in a bain-marie, a double boiler. The final dish is richly flavored and silken. It's ideal for a communal gathering of family or a New Year's Eve party with friends. Just add a roaring fire, and complete the Alpine feel.

I discovered the love of cooking at age 7. Since that first cake that I baked for my dad’s birthday, I have always cooked using ingredients found in the kitchen. I can probably count on one hand how many times I created something from a box or a mix and never really thought there was any other way.

I have always had weird food aversions(which is what I believe kept me out of culinary school). I didn’t like “white” food. Sour cream, ranch dressing, mayo, cream cheese, and anything with that consistency, or white – made me gag. Thus, at a very early age, I started making my own salad dressings; oil and vinegar based. When I order in a restaurant, it’s very, very specific and I can’t order a Caesar salad out.

Although I know exactly what is in the dressing, it really comes down to the consistency. If it’s too creamy or looks mayo-like, I can’t do it. I don’t like creamy food. My ice cream cannot get too soft, a Dijon vinaigrette has to look more oil based, and although I love hummus, tahini cannot be anywhere near me. Thus, my quest for the perfect salad dressings began.

Potatoes make some of the best and most comforting side dishes, especially when they're roasted or baked. A gratin of potatoes combines the best of both techniques, a soft creamy interior and a crunchy browned top. Much like scalloped potatoes but without the cheesy top layer, gratin Dauphinois, from the former French province of Dauphiné, is as simple as a homey country dish can get. The texture and the flavors of the potatoes do all the work to make an out-of-this-world potato dish.

Traditional gratin Dauphinois has no bells and whistles. It's simply thinly sliced potatoes and luscious cream baked in a dish rubbed with garlic and butter. The thick cream and starchy potatoes create the perfect texture, consistency, and crust. Therefore no cheese is even necessary. Some like to dust the potato layers with gratings of nutmeg. But I prefer the earthy flavors of fresh thyme. It's a lovely complement to the garlic as well as a favorite herb to use with potatoes. The gratin goes excellently with any roast meat, but in my opinion juicy roast chicken is the best. It's a simple yet special meal to enjoy this fall and for the upcoming holidays.

My girlfriend took one bite of these and said, “this tastes like Mac ‘n Cheese”.  Voila, the Mac ‘n Cheese cracker was born.

I had been wanting to make more savory snacks and this was a really great place to start.

What I love most about this recipe is that these can be made in big batches, baked right away or frozen for future use, making last minute entertaining, either in our own home or at others, easy and stress free.