What's for dinner...Tartiflette

   My goal is to try and cook the way they cook here. So I plan to post the different dinner's I make here. It is a long process of really trying to find Original Swiss recipes, because anyone can add things on the internet, but I have found a few and will continue my search and will add what I made and it's recipe. A lot of the dishes I will make will most likely have cheese, ham, pasta, sausage, potato, and/or bread, because those are all main items here. So if you are not a fan of those items, well you may not want to try these recipes at home (or it won't kill ya to stretch your pallet a bit) I know I have always been bad, but here you have to, because when you go somewhere to eat and can't read the menu, you guess and hope for the best. So for tonight I will be making "Tartiflette".

Tartiflette: is a French dish from the Haute Savoie region of France. It is made with potatoes, reblochon cheese, lardons, and onions. A popular variation of this dish is to replace the lardons with smoked salmon (I will not be using either, because lardons are nasty and salmon is very expensive so I will be using bacon, which is really in most recipes these days anyways).
The word Tartiflette is probably derived from the Arpitan word for Potato, tartifla. This modern recipe was inspired by a truly traditional dish called "pela": a gratin of potatoes, onions and cheese made in a long-handled pan in France. It was developed in the 1980s by the Union Interprofessional Reblochon to promote sales of reblochon.
The name derives from the Savoyard word for potatoes, tartifles, a term also found in Provençal. The Savoyards first heard of tartiflette when it began to appear on the menus of restaurants in the ski stations, conveying an image of authenticity and mountain terroir. Which is now why it is popular here in Switzerland. Mainly in the mountain area though.

If you don't know what Relochon cheese is, you so should get some just for fun. It is so cool. It has this rind all around and in the middle is like this soft gooey cheese. So go to the store and get some for the fun of it. Try something knew. It really is fun! I will be going to the market and getting some homemade bread that is baked fresh everyday to enjoy with this dish. Which is a staple for every meal here btw.

TARTIFLETTE:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup chopped white onions
• 1/3 lb chopped Ventrèche, or smoked bacon
• 2 1/4 lbs cubed white potatoes
• ½ cup white wine
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 lb sliced Reblochon cheese

Preparation:

Preheat an oven to 350F. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, for 4 minutes. Add the Ventrèche and cook, stirring, for an additional 10 minutes. Add the potatoes, white wine, salt, and pepper; bring the mixture to a simmer, cover, and cook for 8 minutes.
Transfer the half of the potatoes to an oven-safe baking dish. Cover the potatoes with half of the Reblochon, and then repeat the layers once, ending with the last of the Reblochon on the top of the casserole. Bake for 25 minutes, until it is hot and bubbling.