Read chapter 97 here
Photos by Retiring Guy
Monday, December 28
On Christmas Day, we christened a new family tradition. More specifically, we adapted it from Madi’s family.
JoAnna and I had never heard of a raclette until our visit to Germany last year, during a visit at Madi’s parents’ house on the day after Christmas. And what is a raclette? It’s a small, electrical, tabletop grill used to cook meat, fish, vegetables, and bread. These items are placed on a grill plate that sits atop a heating element. At the same time, cheese is element. At the same time, cheese is melted in small pans called coupelles under the heat source. A raclette cheese is made specifically for this purpose, although any meaty type will do.
Call it a cousin of the fondue pot.
The raclette, however, offers a lot more freedom in preparing what ends up on a dinner plate. Our spread included thinly sliced meats (salami, thuringer, roast beef, ham, andouille sausage) and vegetables (bell peppers, mushroom, zucchini, grape tomatoes. We basically made little sandwiches on pieces of a baguette and a soft pretzel.
“I can see some raclette parties in our future,” I predicted. “Once we can start socializing again. Our raclette has eight coupelles (you can see the handles of 4 of them in the photo here), but I suspect our first round might include only Ron and Margaret. We also talked possible themes. Seafood — small shrimp and pieces of scallops — would work well. Pizza, too, which would provide an well. Pizza, too, which would provide an opportunity to prepare a no-two-alike variety of bite-size creations. And the raclette is small enough so that it would easily fit on our patio table for some summertime fun. What a great way to celebrate emerging from the pandemic.
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