Anthony Bourdain’s 5-Ingredient Side Dish Is My Forever Favorite

I’ve at all times admired how Anthony Bourdain used meals as a gateway to discover the world. His fearless strategy to each delicacies and life impressed me to step out of my culinary consolation zone and take into account components and dishes I’d sometimes draw back from.

For instance, I’ve by no means been particularly drawn to French delicacies. I do know; that’s an unpopular opinion. I simply desire bolder flavors with a number of acid and warmth.

Still, my household requests one French dish on occasion, so after I learn a evaluation claiming that Bourdain’s tartiflette recipe would make dwelling cooks “overlook all about potatoes au gratin,” I knew I needed to strive it.

Turns out the evaluation was proper. With layers of tender potatoes, crispy lardons, and candy, silky onions blanketed in creamy cheese, this heat, comforting potato dish from the French Alps made me query why my household ever craved potatoes au gratin within the first place.

How To Make Anthony Bourdain’s Tartiflette

First, peel, cube, and boil 2 1/2 kilos of potatoes till they’re simply tender. While they cool, cube some slab bacon and get it scorching in a pan. Once it begins to crisp, add sliced onions and white wine, sautéeing the whole lot within the bacon fats to deepen the flavour.

Then, drain the potatoes, season them with salt and pepper, and gently toss them with the bacon combination. I exploit a 1.5-quart casserole dish to construct my layers, including half the potato combination and topping it with slices of Brie cheese, then including one other layer of potatoes and lardons earlier than the ultimate serving to of cheese.

The recipe requires Reblochon, a semi-soft French cheese that’s smelly—in a great way—however troublesome to seek out within the U.S. Though it lacks Reblochon’s funkiness, Brie is a good substitute. If you like one thing with a extra strong taste, you may strive Camembert. But, truthfully, we’re speaking a few dish of potatoes and bacon; practically any cheese works. Just select one with first rate melting properties and a little bit of sharpness, like Gruyère, Fontina, or Asiago.

Build the tartiflette with a thick layer of creamy Brie earlier than transferring it to a 350°F oven to bake for 20 minutes. That’s the place the magic occurs. The cheese comes out golden and bubbly, and the potatoes take an surprising creaminess with a smoky bacon taste.

It is a wealthy, hearty dish that would simply steal the highlight as a primary course. At dinnertime, my daughter pushed hers apart and requested if there have been extra potatoes. When I quizzically stated there have been heaps extra, she beamed fortunately, enthusing, “That’s good as a result of I’m going to devour these!” To my delight, she had sequestered them on her plate as a result of she was saving the most effective for final.

Tips for Making the Perfect Tartiflette

1. Choose the best potatoes. Waxy potatoes, like Yukon Gold, are perfect for tartiflette as a result of they maintain their form throughout cooking. They create a firmer, extra structured dish, at the same time as they prepare dinner to tender and creamy. Avoid starchy potatoes like russets, as they might break down an excessive amount of and make the dish mushy.
2. Cut the potatoes earlier than cooking. The recipe says to boil complete potatoes, however reducing them earlier than cooking will save time and make sure the potatoes are cooked all over.
3. Start the potatoes in chilly, salted water. Cold water brings the potatoes to temperature gently and cooks them evenly. The salt infuses the potatoes, so you do not have to season later within the course of.
4. Use any bacon you want. Lardons—cubes of crisp-cooked bacon—are what elevate this dish from “tacky potatoes” to “I am unable to cease consuming this” territory. The recipe requires slab bacon, or unsliced bacon, which might be into good, little cubes. But it’s additionally costlier than sliced bacon. Just select a bacon you want and may afford, and cube it on your tartiflette. It will work simply as properly.

What To Serve with Tartiflette

This dish is so wealthy, it’s “I would want a nap after this” wealthy. To stability it out, I served mine with a easy roast hen and a recent inexperienced salad wearing a tart French dressing. The acidity lower by means of the tartiflette’s creaminess. A glass of crisp white wine from the Savoie area could be the proper pairing, however these are arduous to seek out within the States. Any dry white wine will complement the dish.

Making Bourdain’s tartiflette left me nostalgic, bringing again heat recollections of a visit to Paris greater than 15 years in the past. It additionally jogged my memory to remain curious and take a look at new issues when cooking. While this would not have been a recipe I naturally gravitated towards, it can, any more, be a vacation staple my household can look ahead to. In reality, it’s simpler to make than potatoes au gratin, and I would not have recognized that if I hadn’t given it a strive.