Even after 20 years as a cheese merchant, we sometimes fail to age some cheeses properly and have to remove them from our range. This happened to me recently with some Epoisses. They had become hard and there was no way to soften them. We tried everything but nothing worked. But throwing away this cheese was out of the question, as that would be a waste since these Epoisses had, of course, retained all their nutritional value. I used them in a delicious vegetable gratin.
I blanched Swiss chard, carrots, and cauliflower, cooking them more "al dente" than too soft. At the same time, I had prepared a béchamel sauce and preheated my oven to 200 degrees. I had also thawed two frozen salmon fillets from Ikea and cut them into cubes.
First, put the salmon cubes into an oval fireproof dish from Ballarini, then spread the vegetables on top, pour the béchamel over it, and finally grate the Epoisses roughly over the top. Fifteen minutes in the oven and you're done. Bon appétit.
Sorry for the poor quality of the photos (old iPhone).
