A quiet weekend in the kitchen
Few opportunities to cook last weekend. I had to be official wife twice. The first was a grown up dinner at Simpsons on the Strand: lovely food, interesting company and best behaviour. Sunday was a fund-raising comedy night, which was rib-achingly funny. But there was no dinner, so Mr B and I shared a large bag of Kettle Chips when we got back to Battenburg Towers (mature cheese and red onion if you must know), made slightly classier with the left over herby mayonnaise. It’s not exactly dinner, but it’s a very long time since that has happened, so didn’t feel too bad about it. Missy B would have been beside herself with jealously if she had know what was going on while she was asleep. To make amends, I made this lovely leek and white bean soup for a few healthy dinners – I thought it was slightly too lemony, but that’s easy to rectify next time and that aside it was very tasty.
Jenny came over the other night and it was only after I had been shopping and told her I was planning what is possibly the most unhealthy meal in my repertoire that she told me she is expecting to be ordered by the doc to pay closer attention to her intake of naughty food… She hasn’t actually received those orders yet and she loved this tartiflette as much as I do. And we did have a green salad on the side. She told me she felt she would have to pick out the figs and sneak them onto may plate (she is not a big fan of fruit, but as far as I am concerned, that is just as insane as Missy B’s claim not to like soup). Anyway turns out that caramelized figs are acceptable to her…
The tartiflette is another rustic looking one. There are many different recipes for it. This is approximately what I did:
800g potatoes
1onion, thinly sliced
1 sprig thyme
200g lardons
1 tbsp olive oil
1 glass of white wine
Butter
½ a clove of garlic
2 tbsp creme fraiche
200g Reblochon
Salt and pepper
Preheat the oven to 160°C.
Slice and parboil the potatoes, till they are al dente (I don’t bother peeling them).
Fry the onion and thyme in a tablespoon of olive oil until soft. Add the lardons and and fry till they are cooked and slightly brown. Add the wine and cook till reduced.
Butter an oven proof dish and rub with the garlic.
Put a layer of potatoes in the dish, then a layer of onions and bacon (remove the thyme), repeat, finishing with potatoes. Season, but remember that the cheese and the bacon are salty.
Dot the creme fraiche and the Reblochon over the top.
Bake for an hour or until the cheese is bubbling enticingly.
It is so utterly bad for you and so completely delicious!!
