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A specialty of the town of St.-Affrique, this mixture of Cantal and Roquefort cheeses is served melting hot in a brioche crust. I love the rustic quality of this dish, delicious with a green salad, a slivered marinated red cabbage, soup, or as an accompaniment to fresh fruit. Serve it surrounded with slices of fresh pears and pineapple, green and black grapes, and small strawberries. Cantal is a French cheese from Auvergne; Canadian extra-old (9 months) Cheddar is a good substitute because it cooks well and doesn't draw threads, grates easily, and blends well with the buttery, blue-veined Roquefort to make a tasty filling.
Serves 4 to 6
Begin the brioche 1 day in advance
Active Work: 20 minutes
Rising Time: 2 hours
Baking Time: 20 minutes
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| *If Roquefort is excessively salty, decrease the amount by one fourth. | ||||||||||||||||||
1. Make the Brioche Dough 1 day in advance and allow to ripen and harden in the refrigerator.
2. Grate the Cantal or substitute cheese; set aside 2 tablespoons grated cheese.
3. Crush the Roquefort with a fork and blend with all but 2 tablespoons grated cheese.
4. ABOUT 2 3/4 HOURS BEFORE SERVING, roll out half the dough on a cold, lightly floured work surface to make a 7-inch round or square. Butter a 6-inch shallow earthen or metal pan (round or oval). Place the brioche dough in the pan. Crumble the combined cheese evenly over the dough, leaving a 3/4-inch margin all around.
5. With the remaining dough, make golf-ball-size balls and flatten each with the palm of your hand. Brush the edges of the dough in the pan with egg glaze. Arrange the flattened brioche rounds over the cheese side by side; press around the edges of the dish only. It does not matter if there is a little space between some of the rounds on the top; they will come together during the rising and baking. Cover loosely with buttered foil and set in a warm humid place for 2 hours, or until the dough has become light and springy.
6. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Set a baking sheet on the lower middle oven shelf so that it will become very hot. (This is not necessary if you have a stone tile permanently positioned on the shelf, as I do, which evens out the oven heat and also helps to sear the bottom of dough placed directly on it.)
7. Brush egg glaze over the brioche and scatter the reserved grated cheese on top.
8. Place the brioche on the hot baking sheet or tile and bake 10 minutes. Lower oven temperature to 350°F. and bake 10 minutes longer. Serve hot.