Cheese Flan

You may have heard of Sbrinz, a traditional Swiss cheese with a strong but well-balanced flavour and rock-hard texture. Funnily enough, Sbrinz is very actively promoted (you'd think the Swiss knew about it by now - but it seems they don't) and there are often leaflets or booklets with recipes availabe at cheese shops. Many years ago, there was a recipe for a Sbrinz flan which became hugely popular. It was the kind of dish you'd encounter over and over - everybody made it and everybody loved it. I wanted to recreate the dish - a sort of a retro hommage to the good ol' Sbrinz - but now I couldn't find the recipe anywhere. This is what I made up:

Sbrinz flan (serves 4)

• 200g Sbrinz (substitute with any other aged cheese if Sbrinz isn't available)
• 3 eggs
• 120g crème fraîche
• 1 tablespoon flour
  
• salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste
• butter for the ramequin dishes

Beat the eggs and crème fraîche in a bowl. Grate the cheese and add to the bowl together with the flour. Mix and season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Fill the mixture into four thoroughly buttered ramequin dishes. I cooked the flans for 18 minutes in an electric steamer (borrowed from my mother - thank you, mom), otherwise cook the flans in a bain-marie in the oven for about 30 minutes or until they are set. Unmold and serve with salad on the side.

AND: HAPPY NEW YEAR!