Email to Cat      

Raclette Tartiflette

Source of Recipe

From "Smitten Kitchen Keepers" by Deb Perelman


Recipe Introduction

"I have never been to the Alps, and I barely know how to ski, but I don't see why that should keep me from harnessing my favorite holiday energy in my kitchen every winter to make things I imagine you'd eat on a ski vacation in the mountains of France, Switzerland, and Italy. Like Kaiserschmarrn (chopped fluffy pancakes with plum compote). Like cured meats, rich cheeses, breads, and thick soups with cabbage and cream. And like tartiflette. Tartiflette is a dish from Savoy, in the French Alps, made with boiled potatoes, Reblochon cheese, lardons, onions, white wine, and thick cream. I have an obsessive history with this dish — my friend Julie made it for us more than a decade ago, an unparalleled decadence she called a 'simple student meal'— but I've never made it, because Reblochon is difficult to get in the United States and also quite expensive. Unwilling to live without this decadence any longer, I began making it with the far more accessible and accessibly priced Raclette cheese, and it became my immediate and forever favorite New Year's Eve tradition. Here's how it goes: This recipe makes one tartiflette. But it really wants to join a party, so we're going to scale the recipe to assemble as many pans of these tartiflettes as required, and prep a ton of lettuce, because a big green salad isn't just good with tartiflette, it's essential. We will chill a lot of white wine, and also some bubbly. If you're feeling posh or someone else is paying, get your friends to work with some oysters, knives, and cut-resistant gloves while you bake these tartiflettes until the cheese melts and the rinds brown and all your guests are about to fight each other (gently! with holiday cheer!) for the portions of the lid that have the crunchiest cheese corners in them. Toss the salad, and cut each tartiflette into eight seemingly excessive but actually perfect squares, and I hope you'll agree from the very first forkful that there's no better grand finale for a year."

List of Ingredients

â—¦ 2 small cloves garlic
â—¦ 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
â—¦ Kosher salt
â—¦ 3 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes
â—¦ ½ pound thick-cut bacon, cut into ¼-inch lardons or matchsticks
â—¦ 2 medium yellow onions, halved, thinly sliced
â—¦ Freshly ground black pepper
â—¦ â…“ cup dry white wine
â—¦ ½ cup crème fraîche or heavy cream
â—¦ 1 pound Raclette with rind, kept chilled so it's easier to slice


Recipe

Halve one clove garlic, and rub the cut side of one half around the inside bottom and sides of a 9-by-13-inch or 3-quart baking dish. Butter the dish generously. Mince the second half and the remaining whole clove of garlic and set aside.

Cover the potatoes with cold salted water, and bring to a boil. Cook the potatoes until you can insert a skewer into them without hitting a crunchy center but they're still fairly firm (they'll get more cooking time in the oven); smaller potatoes will take 12 to 15 minutes, larger ones 15 to 20. Drain the potatoes and set them aside.

Heat the oven to 425° F. Meanwhile, add the bacon to a cool, dry large sauté pan, and turn the heat to medium-high. Cook the bacon, stirring occasionally, until it's darker and crisp. Scoop it out with a slotted spoon, and set it aside. Pour off all but 2 tablespoons bacon fat, saving the rest for another use. Add the onions and minced garlic to the pan, season with salt and pepper, and cook until the onions are soft and translucent, about 6 to 8 minutes. Add the wine carefully—it will splatter. Scrape up any stuck bits with the wine, and continue cooking until the wine is almost completely cooked off. Remove the pan from heat, and stir in the crème fraîche and reserved bacon.

Cut the potatoes into scant ½-inch-thick slices. Arrange half of them in a single layer in the prepared dish. Season with salt and many grinds of black pepper. Spoon half of the bacon-cream-onion mixture over the potato slices. (This is not a gratin; don't fret if the potatoes are far from submerged in cream.) Arrange the second half of the potato slices on top. Season with more salt and pepper, and spoon the remaining onion mixture over them. Cut the Raclette into ¼-inch-thick slices, including the rind. (The rind is edible, and delicious once baked.) Tile the cheese slices over the filling; it should almost cover the top.

Bake for 25 minutes, until the cheese is melted. For a deeper color on top, broil for a few minutes at the end. Cut into eight portions and serve with a big green salad.

Serves 8, with salad