A most enjoyable way to cook!

Today's post is a little different.  There is no recipe.  I wanted to tell you about one of our favorite ways to cook, the method of cooking that gets the whole family excited.  It's known as Raclette.  Now Raclette is a type of cheese used for cooking, but it's also a method of cooking.  The word Raclette comes from the French racler, which means to scrape.  This method "cooking" originated in the Swiss Alps among shepherds and herdsmen.  The cheese was easy to transport and when heated on rocks near the campfire, melted nicely onto potatoes and was often accompanied by pickles and onions.  There have been many methods by which people have re-created Raclette over the years.  The Raclette grill is a very popular one.  I was first introduced to it on a trip to Germany to visit my sister and her host family.  We had this for dinner one night and I fell in love with the whole idea of it.  Basically you choose your favorite meats, cheeses and vegetables and sit around the Raclette grill and create your own signature dishes.  You can grill meats and vegetables on top while melting cheese over potatoes in your Raclette pans below. The pans, which I call shovels, (because that's what they look like) are relatively small, which means you can try many different combinations of meats, potato, vegetable and cheese.  We added spices and sauces to the mix too. The possibilities are endless!!!The best part is the socializing that occurs while you create.  Many of our best dinners and breakfasts have been around the Raclette grill.

The sky is the limit with this fun little machine!

Our "Raclette Breakfast" yesterday with Will and Anna.