Blake's St Helena & Porcini Gratin
St Helena is a cheese that we love to cook with. Its milky sweet paste doesn't overpower other flavours in dishes and its silky texture is beautiful when warmed through. We wanted to know how chef-turned-cheesemaker Blake Bowden likes to cook with his cheese St Helena so asked him for his go to way to enjoy it. He shared this recipe with us which we had a lot of fun testing in our office kitchen.
This recipe is best when it is cold and you need comfort. It is a version of the French mountain classic Tartiflette, however I make this version when I'm flush with wild mushrooms from foraging in the Autumn months.
INGREDIENTS
1kg King Edward potatoes - peeled and sliced
1 large brown onion - thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic - thinly sliced
A few stalks of thyme
Glug of olive oil
Knob of butter
50g dried porcini mushrooms or 200g fresh wild mushrooms if you're lucky!
100ml dry white wine
400ml creme fraiche
1 dessert spoon cornflour
250g St Helena - sliced
METHOD
-Set your oven to 180c
-Blanch the sliced potatoes in salted water until al dente. Put in a baking dish and keep warm.
- Meanwhile, if you've got dried mushrooms soak them in a little hot water.
-Sweat the onions, garlic and thyme with olive oil and butter for about 10 minutes until soft and sweet. Then add the mushrooms and cook for a further 5 minutes. Next add the white wine and bring to the boil before adding this mushroom mix to the potatoes in the baking dish.
- Combine the cornflour with the creme fraiche and mix this into the potatoes and mushrooms. Season well with salt and pepper and flatten out so that your gratin has a level top.
- Lay the slices of St Helena all over the top of the dish and bake for about 25 minutes until golden and crispy.
