If you are on a low-fat diet, look away now. Or don’t. But I warn you, once you read what’s below, you won’t be able to resist. And how can you. I mean I’m talking bacon, cheese, cream, potatoes.
With all this horrible cold, wet and windy weather, I was craving something warm and comforting. I first came across this recipe in Delicious Magazine. A Tartiflette is a very traditional French dish made with Reblochon cheese. I, however, mix it up and do mine with a soft blue cheese. I also add a few other less traditional ingredients like dried herbs, mushrooms and courgette. For some reason if I add a few vegetables I feel a whole lot better about consuming all that yummy cheesy, creamy, bacony goodness. This is also a great meal to make with leftovers from a roast chicken dinner – using the leftover chicken and even the leftover vegetables!
So with the twins fully entrenched in some serious train track building, I’m going to share with you one of my favorite comfort foods.
P.S My mouth is already watering…
Tamara’s Tartiflette
Ingredients:
- 3 cooked chicken breasts or the leftovers from a roasted chicken – shredded
- 3-4 medium sized waxy potatoes sliced thin
- 200g of smoked bacon – I used traditional French Lardons
- 1 medium onion diced
- 1 courgette – sliced thin
- 200g of chestnut mushrooms – sliced thin
- 1 teaspoon of thyme
- 1 teaspoon of tarragon
- 2 tablespoons of flour (or you can use arrowroot powder for grain/gluten free)
- 250g of soft blue cheese chopped
- 200ml of chicken stock
- 200ml of double cream
- 1 teaspoon Olive Oil
- salt and pepper to taste
Method:
Pre-heat your oven to 200C and grease a roasting dish. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat and add the bacon. Cook the bacon until it just starts to crisp up. Remove and set aside. Add the onion to the frying pan and cook until soft. Once soften, add the herbs, mushrooms and courgette and again, cook until they start to soften. Once softened, add the bacon back in and sprinkle over the flour. Mix to combine. Take of the heat and set aside.
If you don’t have any leftover chicken, poach the chicken breasts in a pot of stock for about 10-15 minutes. Take the chicken out and shred. Add your potatoes to the pot of stock (or a pot of boiling water) and cook for 5 minutes, then drain. Mix together the chicken stock, cream and a dash of salt and pepper.
Now you’re ready to assemble. I like to do two layers. First some potatoes, then veg, then chicken, liquid and 1/3 of your cheese. Repeat one more time then cover the whole top in a layer of potatoes. Put in the oven and cook for 40 minutes until the potatoes are nice and brown. Add the remaining 1/3 cheese to the top with 15 minutes left. Remove from the oven and ideally let stand for 10 minutes before cutting into it – although I’ve never been able to wait – but when you go back for seconds the sauce will have thickened up a bit and taste even better. This is just as delicious the next day.
A Lot of Things 