Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Tartiflette or you may say...potatoes+ bacon + cheese = more please!

Back in the US we would eat a slice of pizza, have a burger or huddle over a big bowl of chili topped with shredded cheddar cheese after a long day of skiing or tromping through the snow.  But here in Switzerland and France many people will be bellying up to a very filling and flavorful tartiflette.

And how can you go wrong with such few and simple ingredients as potatoes, cheese, and bacon?  Ok, maybe I’ve somewhat fallen off the vegetarian wagon, ever so slightly, but you must add bacon or lardons, or some kind of smoky ham to a tartiflette – or you wouldn’t be true to its terroir.  This potato dish, originally from the Haute Savoie region in France, was created by the Union Interprofessional Reblochon to add value and increase sale of their very distinct cheese (who knew that one kind of cheese could have a whole union?). Technically Reblochon is a soft-washed-rind and smear-ripened cheese most often made from raw cow’s milk.  What you really need to know is that it looks like a soft round disk that has an earthy smell and nutty flavor but when heated it melts like Velveeta (but not at all as nasty and without the preservatives) and the smell and flavor mellow to create a seriously flavorful dish.
You can manipulate this recipe to your heart’s content.  If you can find Reblochon that’s great, otherwise almost any soft-rind cheese will work (Tomme Vaudous, Brie, Taleggio, Raclette...etc) and if no soft cheese is available then improvise with what you have.  This recipe will feed 4 normal people who did nothing during the day or 2 very active people who may have cross-country skied for 8 hours (without a break). 
Ingredients:
12-15 small to medium potatoes 
3 yellow onions
1 package bacon or lardons 
1/4 cup cream or milk
Salt & pepper
1 medium-sized soft rind cheese (Reblochon)
2 T sour cream or crème fraiche
Preparation:
  1. Boil the potatoes until fork tender...then slice into small disks.  Cool and set aside
  2. Dice onions into small pieces
  3. Dice bacon (better yet, use pre-diced lardon)
  4. Sauté onions and bacon until golden
  5. Add the onions and bacon to the potatoes
  6. Toss the cream/milk, potatoes, bacon, onions together and place in a greased 9x9 baking dish
  7. Cut soft rind cheese into small chunks or break up with your hands and spread on top of potato mixture
  8. Bake for 15 minutes at 400° F
  9. Take out of oven and place small spoonfuls of sour cream on top of mixture, bake additional 5 – 10 minutes until bubbling and irresistible

She just scooped it out of the cast iron pan and dumped it into an enormous bowl that I shared with my entire family.
It's actually made by little elves...that's how good it is!



Here is the homemade version sans huge cast iron pan, but still really good!