I finally got around to trying out the Fromage Fort yesterday and it was pretty darned good...pretty darned interesting, too.
I combined English Cheddar, Cotswold and Gruyere, in fairly equal amounts, and I added a wee bit of remaining brie and Camembert. All in all, I had about 1-1/4 pounds of cheese. Threw it all into the food processor, then added about 1/4 cup of cabernet, instead of the white wine called for in the recipe. (Personally, I enjoy a cab with most cheese...and I had a bottle already opened and no chardonay around...) I omitted the butter (an oversight really) and did not add additional salt. The taste at this point was very appealing! Since the consistency was a little "loose", I refrigerated the blend for a couple of hours.
The result: A delicious cheese spread, definately on the cheddar side and with the obvious tart richness of the cabernet in every bite. The entire family enjoyed it and it was consumed in a flash by the son's pals who came for dinner.
I'm a little relieved that I greadily refused to spare even a morsel of the Roquefort to add to this. Besides the fact that I'm adicted to the stuff, I really think it would have provided too much "confusion" to the blend. I can see this recipe working exceptionally well with like-minded cheeses, but I would resist making a meld of a wide variety of cheeses...not too certain if that would still be as appetizing.
Great recipe, which I will definately make again. Thank you for sharing this, Otter!