Oven potatoes

Oven potatoes are a staple when cooking for large groups of people. Everyone likes them and it is so much easier to make the whole meal in the oven (ok, I have a huge oven....)! Since I make them nearly every time there is some sort of roast, I tend to add different herbs & spices each time, whatever is available & accompanies the roast (chicken, beef, lamb, pork, game....).

Ex: With the sage & garlic leg of lamb I like to doctor the potatoes with rosemary.




Rosemary & Garlic Put roast into oven first, then prepare the potatoes, as their cooking time is probably not as long. Preferably use small potatoes, leave on peel, cut in half. Add full unpeeled cloves of garlic, a sprig of rosemary, 4 tbsps olive oil, salt & pepper to taste. If you have a bottle of dry white wine open, splash some on as well. Put the potatoes in the oven cook until golden & crisp.

Tartiflette-French potatoe & cheese gratin

If you're on a diet, don't even read this recipe. Most traditional recipes in the Alpine region are based on cheese, lardons & potatoes. "Low-fat" is not a concept here. Then again winters are cold here, even spring is cold here, so rich heavy food is necessary for survival.

A variation of this dish is croziflette (pictured here), which is made with small square pasta called crozets.

WARNING: I'm not sure you can easily or cheaply find the cheese, Reblochon, in the US. If you do manage to find it, most likely it's been pasteurized, which here in the Savoy regions is anathema. Reblochon is made from raw milk "lait cru", or it cannot be called Reblochon ("fromage pour tartiflette" or Tartiflette cheese is the term for the substitute stuff). Mom has found it at Trader Joe's & she's been known to substitute with another firm cheese that melts easily, so experiment!

1 Reblochon (firm, not too mushy)
5 large potatoes
1 large onion
1 pint crème fraiche (or heavy cream)
2 cups lardons (or bacon) [unless your vegetarian]
1 glass fruity white wine
salt & pepper

Preheat oven to hot temperature.
Slice onions thinly in half rings. Sauté in a bit of butter with the lardons.
Peel potatoes, slice thinly, add to onions & lardons.
Stir occasionaly so it doesn't stick. Season to taste.
When potatoes start to become transparent, add the wine.
Once wine has cooked down, add the crème fraiche. Stir well.
Remove from heat and transfer into a pyrex.
Slice Reblochon in half through middle (you should have two circles). place on top of the potatoe mixture with the crust upwards.
Bake in oven until the cheese is crispy.
Serve with a green salad, as this is too rich a dish to be accompanied by anything else. Usually I serve the same local wine I used to cook with (for example my neighbor's award winning Roussette de Frangy).