[Vacherin mont d'or] A baked holy grail of French/Swiss raw milk cheese

We've not always been successful to buy Mont d'or for the past few years. It's all because of such a short period of time in December during which you can buy the cheese. Mont d'or is made with in the winter months when the cows come down from Alpage, petits Alps and there is not enough milk to make Comté cheese. It is packaged in round boxes and baked in its original packaging and eaten like raclette. 


As you might have seen my previous postings about cheese, I am a cheese lover. Especially I love cheese from French Alps since I lived there for some time many years ago.

Anyway, I was anxious and called Fromagerie Hamel of Montreal every week since last week of November. When I heard that Mont d'or finally arrived, we skipped Remi's basketball game on Saturday, and drove all the way to Montreal at -25 Celsius. As we couldn't get one last year, we bought two wheels of Mont d'or this year to compensate last year's miss! :) We had such a rich and fulfilling weekend, calorie wise! :( We had cheese meal two days in a row, raclette on Saturday and baked Mont d'or on Sunday. It was so delicious!!! Let me start diet from January 1st, okay? :) We had a smaller French Mont d'or first, since a smaller wheel gets more fermented more faster than a bigger one. We will have a bigger Swiss Mont d'or after Christmas. :) (Mon d'or's Shelf life(?) is really short).
Here goes the recipe, or preparation method, for Mont d'or. 

Ingredients
a Swiss or French Mont d'or in a wooden box
1-2 cloves of garlic, sliced
100ml Jura wine, or dry white wine
(as we couldn't find Jura wine from Ottawa or Gatineau (sigh...), we used a Pinot Gris from Alsace. I recommend an Alsace Pinot Gris or a  Savoie Jacquère. A substitute for a Jura wine would be wines from neighboring regions. :))

For the accompaniments
assorted delicatessen
mini potatoes 
cornichons (French sour pickles)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 Fahrenheit (190 Celsius). 


2. Remove the lid from the cheese box. Cover the box with aluminium foil.
3. Make several slits in the top of the cheese with a sharp knife



3. Place the garlic slices into the slits. Submerge them completely into the cheese.

 

4. Scoop out a big scoop of creamy cheese to make a hole in the middle.
(Don't fight over the scooped cheese :))


5. Pour the wine.



6. Place on a baking sheet and place in the oven for 20 minutes, until melted.


It' ready, hot and bubbly. :)


To serve, place the cheese box onto a serving plate.


Enjoy the melted cheese just like raclette, with steamed hot potatoes and assorted delicatessen. :) 


It disappeared fast! The boys love cheese just like their parents.

Happy Monday!


Baked Vacherin Mont d'or