Even after 20 years as a cheese merchant, sometimes we fail to affinage some cheeses and we have to take them out of the range. It happened to me the other day at Epoisses. They got hard and there was no way to soften them. We tried everything and nothing worked. But there was no question of throwing these cheeses away, it would be a shame because these Epoisses of course still had all their nutritional values. I used them in a delicious vegetable gratin.
I have blanched chard, carrots, cauliflower, cooked "al dente" rather than too soft. At the same time I had prepared a béchamel sauce and preheated my oven to 200 degrees. I also had 2 frozen salmon fillets from Ikea, thawed and diced.
First place the salmon cubes in an oval, fireproof Ballarini dish, then distribute the vegetables on top, pour the béchamel over it and finally grate the Epoisse over it. A quarter of an hour in the oven and you're done. Bon Appetit.
Sorry for the bad quality of the photos (old iPhone).
