Sunday Supper: Raclette - A Social and Interactive Dinner for Parties or Anytime!

When was the last time you had your friends over for dinner and they could customize the menu and roast cheese on top? Yes, please. I was introduced to Raclette by some friends who have been enjoying this tradition for years. It was typically savored and celebrated when ringing in the New Year. Our friend grew up in Germany and she continues to travel there often intertwining the two cultures.

What is Raclette? 
Raclette is a cheese but also a social dining experience that will bring together the entire group. It requires few ingredients and is guaranteed to be a great time for everyone at every age. So how does it work? It's simple. You have a grill, a small dish with a handle that looks like a mini shovel and a spatula that is used to scrape your food off of the little dish and onto your plate. You choose your meat and vegetables of choice, top it with the cheese, roast it, scrape it off and dip it in your favorite sauce. It's delicious!

What does it look like? 
I have taken a series of photos for you to see the process below. You can choose any meat and vegetables of your choice to grill. You can find the Raclette cheese at Whole Foods and the grill can be found at Sur La Table  or at William Sonoma.

What You Need: 
2-3 types of meat cubed into small pieces and marinaded with your favorite homemade sauce or simple with salt & pepper. We used chicken and beef.

Large Yukon gold potatoes at least one per person
Vegetables of your choice. We used the following:
plum tomatoes
corn
button mushrooms
white or yellow onion
red pepper
Raclette cheese

Dips
Curry Sour Cream

Horseradish Sour Cream
Pineapple and Sweet Onion Sauce made with chicken stock


What To Do:
Call your friends and have them each bring a bottle of wine and good conversation.
Cube and marinade the meat first and as always, this can be done the day before.
Mix about a 1 1/2 c. sour cream with 1 T. curry powder

In a separate bowl, mix 1 1/2 sour cream with 1 T. horseradish
Allow both dips to set for at least 4 hours in the refrigerator prior to serving.
Dice and cut the vegetables of your choice into small 1/4-1/2 slices or bite sized pieces and place in separate bowls. Cover and place in refrigerator until right before you serve.
Leaving potatoes whole, boil until cooked and serve piping hot.
While the potatoes are cooking, slice the cheese into 1-2 inch squares and place on a plate.


Set the table and start the fun! Thank you to Nikki and Coltin for introducing us to Raclette! We had a wonderful time and look forward to the next one.