Petit Bacon and Potato Gratin Tartlets

Petit Potato and Bacon Gratin Tartlets (They may not look like much, in fact they don't even look rather appertizing, but sometimes looks can be decieving)

As I have mentioned before – I really enjoy watching Rachel Khoo. She takes French Cooking to a whole new level that is so simple and easy to make with her own twisted flare. It’s so ingenious I think to myself: “How come I didn’t think of that!” She made Reblochon tartiflette which she called “Cheese and Potato Nests.” It is normally a rich and heavy winter dish but she made it that its light and the portion sizes is just perfect for each person.

I have put my own spin on it and called it Bacon and Potato Gratin Tartlets. Rachel used Reblochon which is a cheese that is I have never found in our supermarket. Or if they do stock it will be really expensive. I used a combination of Camembert and Creamy Blue Cheese instead. I also used a giant muffin pan and the portions come out just perfect. It may not look very presentable – but very tasty.

It goes as a nice alternative to a potato bake for a braai. It’s light and not as heavy as the original. You can even serve it with a lovely green salad on the side…

Just something really interesting about Reblochon cheese that I found rather facinating. I enjoy learning the origins of food. It is a French Cheese coming from the Alp Region called Haute-Savoie. Apparently in the Middle Ages (1400’s to be exact), farmers in the mountains of Haute Savoie used to pay their taxes to their landlords with part of their milk production. They did not fully milk their cows so as to lower their level of production. Once the tax officers came to measure the milk produced and left, the farmers went back to milk the cows again. The milk they got was much richer and was used by the dairymaids to make their own cheese. Reblochon has a nutty taste that remains in mouth after its soft and uniform centre has been enjoyed.

Ingredients:

15ml soft butter

500g waxy potatoes sliced into matchsticks

1 onion - diced

1 garlic clove – crushed

1 bay leaf

250g smoked bacon - diced

100ml dry white wine

250g Brie or Camembert cheese - cubed

125g Creamy Blue Cheese - cubed

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180C and grease a six-hole muffin tin with the soft butter. I used the giant muffin pan size.

Peel the potatoes and use the julienne blade on a mandoline to make thin matchsticks (or slice by hand). I don’t have that feature on my mandolin – so I thinly slice my potatoes and then chop them with the knife into matchsticks.

Potatoes chopped into matchsticks

Put the chopped onion, garlic, bay leaf and bacon into a large non-stick frying pan and cook until the bacon is golden-brown. Add the wine and reduce until only a couple of tablespoons of liquid remains. Remove the bay leaf.

Stir in the potato matchsticks and take off the heat, then stir in the cheese’.

Divide the potato mix between the six holes in the muffin tin and bake for 15–20 minutes or until golden-brown and bubbling.

Before it goes into the oven - Bake for 15-20min until nice and golden...

 Serve hot.