Tartiflette-Burgundy/Alps

After taking a french cooking class for 6 weeks (at Tante Maries in San Francisco--highly recommended!), I've been inspired to try the recipes we cooked from class at home. The class was set up regionally, beginning with Burgundy. Each weekend I've decided to do one dish. Now this will take me some time (there were about 10-12 recipes per class and there were 6 classes) , but I'm in no rush! I've already done 2 dishes and it's just now, with the encouragement of my husband, that I decided to blog about it. Figured it couldn't hurt to just put it all out there.

That all being said, tonight's dish is Tartiflette. This is a really hardy dish and in my personal opinion, you just can't go wrong based on the ingredients. Get ready... potatoes, bacon, onion, butter (of course!) and a one whole pound of reblochon cheese. Oooo, la, la! The dish is from the Alps so you can understand why it's so hardy... made for tired, hungry skiers.

Full recipe will be at the end of the post but following are the steps and my comments/notes.

Boil red potatoes and as soon as they are cool, peel them and cut them into thick slices

Layer half of the potatoe slices on the bottom of the casserole dish and season with salt and pepper.

In the mean time, chop up bacon and onion and saute -- do not brown the onion. (I actually did this step while the potatoes were cooling...)

Spread onion/bacon mixture over potatoes.

Cover with the second half of potatoes and season with salt and pepper.

Now the good part! Unwrap the reblochon and slice it in half, lengthwise. Make sure to taste a little before cooking. It's yummy!

Lay the reblochon slices over the top and put in the 425 degree oven. Bake for 10 minutes. Reduce the oven to 350 and then bake for an additional 20-25 minutes or until the top is brown and crispy.

The finished dish from the oven.

Enjoy with a green salad and a nice fruity wine. (preferrably a white burgundy!)

Tartiflette

3 lbs medium sized red potatoes

1 large white onion, peeled and diced

4 thick slices smoked bacon, diced

2 tablespoons butter

1 garlic clove, peeled and cut in half

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 lb reblochon cheese, sliced in half lengthwise

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Cover potatoes with water in a large pot, bring to boil and cook for approximately 15 minutes. Mean while, cook the onion and bacon in the butter in a heavy slillet over medium heat. They should sweat, not brown. Drain the potatoes and as soon as they are cool enough to handle, peel them. Slice thickly.

Select an eartheware ovenproofe dish and rub it well with the cut halves of garlic. Layer half the sliced potatoes across the base, season with salt/pepper, then scatter over the onion/bacon mixture. Add the remaining potatoes and more seasoning. Place the sliced reblochon on top. Bake for 10 minutes at 425. Reduce the heat to 350 and then bake for an additional 20-25 minutes or until the top is brown and crispy. Serve with a green salad.