About Sue Style
Sue Style is the author of nine books on food and wine, including "Cheese: Slices of Swiss Culture."
To find more tasty recipes please visit her website: suestyle.com
Kohlrabi salad with shaved Sbrinz and Buendnerfleisch
The earthy crunch of kohlrabi goes well with sharp Sbrinz and pungent Buendnerfleisch (air-dried beef) in this salad, nice in autumn or winter.
Serves 4
700g kohlrabi (about 3, tennis ball-size)
Salt
50g chunk of Sbrinz cheese
50g thinly sliced Bündnerfleisch (air-dried beef), cut in strips
Handful of shelled walnuts
Dressing:
2 Tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
½ tsp salt
Lots of freshly ground pepper
6 Tbsp olive oil or sunflower oil
Trim and peel the kohlrabi, discarding any hard, woody bits. Cut them in half, slice thinly and cut the slices in matchstick strips. Put in a colander, sprinkle with salt and leave in the sink for 2-3 hours to release some of their juice. Cut the Bündnerfleisch in thin strips. Take shavings of Sbrinz off the cheese using a potato peeler. Put the kohlrabi on a serving plate or in a bowl, mix with the Bündnerfleisch. Shake together all the ingredients for the dressing in a jam jar until emulsified and thick, pour it over the salad and toss all the ingredients together. Scatter Sbrinz and walnuts on top and serve with crusty bread.
Sincronizadas (flour tortillas with melted cheese)
A super-fast snack consisting of a pair of tortillas sandwiched with cheese (and sometimes ham), heated on a griddle or ungreased frying pan till the tortillas are piping hot and the cheese melted. Serve with tomato salsa.
2 flour tortillas or wraps
Slices of Raclette, Tilsiter or Appenzeller cheese, rinds removed, enough to cover the surface of a tortilla
Optional: a slice of ham the size of the tortilla
1 shallot or spring onion
Handful of coriander leaves
1 fresh green chili, seeds removed, chopped
2-3 tomatoes
2 Tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper
Juice of 1 lime
Potimarron (or butternut squash), parsnip, and potato wedges with sage and raclette cheese
A gutsy autumn dish of veggie wedges with sage and melted cheese – serve as a main dish, or to accompany grilled or roasted meat or fish.
Serves 4 as a vegetarian main course, 6 as a side dish.
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
6-8 sage leaves
150g raclette cheese, coarsely grated
Discard any seeds from potimarron/butternut, cut flesh (no need to peel) in wedges. Peel the parsnips and cut in similar-sized chunks. Quarter the potatoes lengthwise (no need to peel). Put them all in a large roasting pan, sprinkle with oil, salt and pepper, and scatter the sage leaves around. Bake at 200oC for 45-60 minutes or until vegetables are lightly golden and crispy at the edges. Remove from oven, sprinkle with grated cheese and return veggies to the oven for another 10 minutes or until the cheese melts.
Cheese pasties (turnovers) with bacon and potatoes
These are a Swiss take on Cornish pasties. Instead of meat and vegetables, the filling is of slices of melting cheese (Raclette, Tilsiter, Appenzeller), diced bacon and potatoes. Serve with a sharply dressed salad.
Makes 6 pasties.
400g firm, waxy potatoes (or new potatoes)
Salt and pepper
200g semi-hard, melting cheese
600g puff pastry
1 egg to glaze
Caraway seeds
Sweat the lardons or diced bacon in a small heavy pan without extra fat until the fat runs – don't let them to get more than lightly golden, or they will be hard. Discard the fat. Cook the potatoes in boiling salted water for about 15 minutes or until barely tender. Peel and dice them. Cut the rinds off the cheese and cut in 12 slices. Cut the pastry into 6 equal-sized pieces, roll out each piece to a roughly circular shape. Using a 20cm-diameter plate, trim each piece to a 20cm circle. Put a slice of cheese on one half of the pastry disc, add some bacon pieces and potatoes, top with another slice of cheese. Wet a border around half the circumference of the pastry, close up and press the edges together to make a pasty, or turnover. Crimp the edges together or press them with a fork to give a decorative finish. Put them on a baking sheet lined with non-stick paper, brush with beaten egg and sprinkle with caraway seeds.
Chill until needed. When ready, heat the oven to 200oC and bake the pasties for about 20 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown.
Photos: © Nikos Kapelis
