La tartiflette is a relatively recent invention (from the 1980s) in popular French cuisine. It's a dish of scalloped potatoes flavored with onions, bacon, cream, and, especially, the Alpine cheese called Reblochon. It's wintertime comfort food. I made a tartiflette yesterday and the result was so many pictures that I decided to turn them into a 90-second slideshow. The Reblochon cheese I bought was made with raw milk and weighed 450 grams (1 lb.).
My tartiflette was inspired by a Julie Andrieu TV show about the French Haute-Savoie area in her series called Les Carnets de Julie. You can see her recipe and the segment of the show about making a tartiflette here.
Basically, what you do is peel and then boil or steam about 2 lbs. of waxy potatoes until they are tender. Meanwhile, chop up about 6 oz. (a scant half-pound) of smoked bacon (lardons de poitrine fumé) and an onion or two (I used shallots and garlic). Sauté the bacon and onion in a little butter and take it out of the pan, leaving as much fat as possible. When the potatoes are tender and have cooled down a little, dice or slice them. Sauté them to brown them just a little bit in the fat left in the skillet in which you sautéed the bacon and onion.
Spread about half of the bacon-onion mixture over the bottom of a baking dish. Put about half the cooked potatoes over that, and add a couple of tablespoons of cream. Add the rest of the potatoes and top them with the rest of the bacon-onion mixture. Season with a pinch of salt, plenty of black pepper, and a grating or pinch of nutmeg. Pour in about half a cup (120 ml) of dry white wine.
Slice the Reblochon cheese in half (into two disks) with a sharp, narrow-bladed knife — it's a very soft cheese, and the crust is natural and edible. Put the halves (as in the photos) cut side down (crust side up) on top of the potatoes and bake the tartiflette in a 180ºC (350ºF) oven for 30 minutes. Let it brown on top a little. Serve the tartiflette hot with a green salad, some French bread, and red wine.
This sounds almost decadently wintertime comfort food. I'm quite sure I'll be trying it sometime soon. But I wonder what cheese I can buy in northeast Ohio that would work well and be like reblochon.
ReplyDeleteYou need a cheese that melts well. Fontina, maybe? Monterey Jack? Brie? Just thoughts. Whatever you use, it won't be bad.
DeleteThickethouse, I've had luck with Meunster cheese, for this recipe. Melts well, and gives a nice flavor.
DeleteJudy
Judy, that sounds like a really good suggestion.
DeleteThank you.
DeleteI will give it a try soon with Muenster cheese.
ReplyDeleteMy wife makes tariflette when we're in France and can get proper Reblochon. It's so good. She also made it a couple of times when we were in Quebec, because we could get proper Reblochon there
ReplyDeleteIt’s going to be cold here next week, down to the 50’s, so your tartiflette will be on the menu at our house. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteKen this looks great. You've got a head start with all the wonderful ingredients available to you locally. I wonder if substituting readily available ingredients here, like Jimmy Dean bacon and Velveeta, would give me a similar result? LOL. Actually we do have a couple stores that sell reblochon, but specialty shops...
ReplyDeleteVelveeta!!! heeheehee
DeleteMary in Oregon
Wonderful looking video. Yummy!
ReplyDeleteMary in Oregon
Our weather is getting seasonally cold again, after a week of indecently warm, so your potatoes are most timely.
ReplyDeleteBeing inured to processed "cheeses" in American stores, the first time I went into a SuperU and saw the selection, I was stunned. I grabbed two or three at random, all of which were excellent.