Tartiflette

My last blog post in December outlined my past and future resolutions: the latter being to write or blog more. I didn’t really know what to write about until today, except that I knew I wanted to create something, so I’ll start off by writing about what I do best: eating. But before I move on to a more gustatory topic I’ll add – because I feel it needs to be in writing – that I uphold last year’s decision in that I don’t plan to run any marathons this year, either. My favourite race distance remains 10 miles and I’m registered for two already this year. I’ll also be doing a few half marathons, possibly including a very exciting one in June, which I won’t blog about until I know whether it will happen!

And now, on to more important items. Last night I made tartiflette: a delicious French dish comprising potato, bacon and cheese that is so much more than the sum of its parts. Traditionally it is made with reblochon, a round, soft cheese with a rind that forms a tasty crisp top layer when baked. Tartiflette consists of alternate layers of thinly sliced potato (I parboiled mine because I didn’t have all night to bake it); onion rings, chopped garlic, and lardons (the lardons I saw in the supermarket looked very fatty so I bought some excellent smoked streaky bacon from the butcher and chopped it into pieces) - these last three items I fried before layering; dollops of crème fraîche, and some top notch pepper (the spice, not the vegetable). I layered it all up in a big dish, topped it with the sliced reblochon, baked it at 180 degrees for half an hour until the cheese looked ready, et voilà!

The tartiflette production line – fried onions and garlic; sliced reblochon; fried lardons; the trusty pepper grinder; and crème fraiche.

The finished product, ready for the oven.

Some helpful guidelines:

• I did import the reblochon from France after Christmas, and I wouldn’t think you could buy it here (Ireland), but I’m sure you could make a decent dish with sliced brie or camembert – or any soft creamy cheese with a soft rind. 
• Places are getting better at supplying lardons but if the packet is full of fatty pieces you’d be better off cutting your own from streaky bacon. 
• Use as many or a few dollops of crème fraîche throughout as you feel you need. 
• If you don't parboil the potatoes, it will need around 1.5 hours in the oven.
• I won’t attempt to provide quantitative ingredients because my vocabulary there rarely stretches beyond “some” and “a few”, but if you make lots you can have it for lunch the next day. 
• Bon appetit!