Tartiflette is a famous and wonderful potato and cheese dish served in French Alps during the winter season. It uses Reblochon cheese that can be difficult to come by in Estonia, but with a few changes and tweaks it could easily become Tartu-flette and with the weather what it is right now, nothing should be more soothing or warming.
Heat an oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Peel and cut up potatoes and carrots and put them to boil with a little bit of salt in the water (be careful with seasoning at first since cheeses and bacon are all salty). Once the water starts boiling, the potatoes and carrots should take around 5-6 minutes to al dente, with still a little bite to them. Drain and set aside…
…Warm a nice heavy pan and put the bacon cubes to brown. Slice an onion and when bacon is browned to your desired crispiness, add it to the pan. Turn the heat to low so the onion would not burn…
…Once the onion is glassy and soft, add slices of mushrooms and chopped up thyme. If you do not have fresh thyme sprigs, then about half a teaspoon of dried thyme will also do the trick. Season carefully with a little bit of salt, pepper and garlic powder…
…When the mushrooms are done, add potatoes and carrots to the pan and mix well. Now lay slices of soft cheese on top of the mixture, leave the heat on low and cover with a lid. Let the cheese melt completely (about 15-20 minutes) and stir…
…When the cheese has melted, taste and season according to your taste. Then transfer into an oven dish and cover liberally with grated cheese…
…Stick it in the oven for about 20 minutes, until the cheese has browned and everything is nice and bubbly. Once out of the oven, try to let it cool a little bit while warming your hands above the dish…
…Tartu-flette tasted really nice with a simple cucumber-yoghurt salad and served with a beer.
Bon appetit!
(A Different Kind of Cookbook) is not the typical collection of recipes. It uses whatever one might have left over in the fridge or pantry, and offers different ideas for using those ingredients. Included are many ideas not usually present in Estonian kitchens (quesadillas, chili, East Indian-style chicken casserole) or different ways of sprucing up local staples (mashed potatoes, cole slaw, potato salad). It does not give fixed amounts, but rather lets the cook choose whatever ingredients and how much of those he wants included in the dish. In addition to the unique approach to cooking are also ideas for serving and what to do with left-overs.
Maiken Urmet, a native of Tartu, Estonia, received her degree in Computer Graphic Design at Tartu Art College in 2002. After college she moved to Belgium with her boyfriend and that is where she first started dabbling in cooking. She found a new creative outlet and has by now published her first cookbook in Estonian that came out in the Summer of 2009 (available in bookshops). Maiken has lived in Portugal, Belgium and USA and wants to expand the Estonian diet with foreign dishes. Naturally she also enjoys her grandmother's good ol'fashioned Estonian dishes and has sworn to master those as well. At the moment she is once again back in Belgium, working on another cookbook and studying French.
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greetings from Stockholm! Great dish! Two colleagues and me all did this Heavy-Duty meal seperately. Great taste – so thought all my children too. Thanks for the tip.
You can also add some “nutmeg” which fits especially well with potatoes and Tartiflette usually. But not too much because taste is pretty strong :)
