Cheese croûte
============= 2023-12-04


Inspired by: FX Cuisine

Comment: The cheese croûte is a very popular dish in Switzerland. It exists in 3 versions.
The simple cheese croûte, the cheese croûte with ham and the cheese croûte with ham and egg.
So here one can choose to ignore the egg or the ham and the egg.
My mom would dip the bread in a little dry white wine, before cooking it, it's a good option.
Here we use fruit alcohol, which I must say, after trying it is a great suggestion. My preference goes to quince, but plum or apple are good options too.
As for the bread, it is better that it is not too fresh. Use a loaf with a good, well-structured crumb and a larger diameter than a baguette, the point is to cover the bottom or the oven dish.

Ingredients per person:
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1 or 2 slices of bread not too fresh of 10 to 12 mm thick (a small 1/2")
2 slices of good gruyère or alp cheese (5 to 7 mm thick) to cover the bread
Apple, pear or quince alcohol
Garlic
Freshly ground pepper
1 slice of ham (opt)
1 egg (opt)
1 small individual oven dish

Preparation:
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Preheat the oven to 200C (400F).
Toast the bread slices.
Cut a clove of garlic and rub the toast with the slice.
Arrange the bread in the individual dish.
Drizzle your bread with a good schlook (a small glass) of the chosen alcohol (don't be afraid to put enough! the bread must be wet but not drenched).
Cover the bread with a nice slice of cheese.

Place in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes. After ~12 min when the cheese starts to melt well, pepper, add the ham (opt).

In parallel, fry an egg and place it over the crust when ready to serve (opt).