Tartiflette

I never have a problem deciding what sort of food is appropriate. Except for Saturday lunch. For some reason Saturday lunch really throws me off and, unless its suitable weather for a rare roast beef salad with lots of bread and cheeses, I never have any idea what to cook. I asked my family for inspiration and tartiflette came up as an option served with salads and bread and something nice for pud. Then a neighbour came round offering us half a Reblouchon, she'd bought some in a 3 for 2 offer and was going to be away before they'd have a chance to eat it all. So that sealed the deal. Tartiflette it would be, even though, I was slightly scared of it.

I was wrong to be scared of it - it's incredibly easy to do and is happy to be made up and then just sit about a bit waiting to be cooked. And it tastes divine and is perfect for Saturday lunch or indeed week day supper. There are lots of recipes hanging around so this is mine!

Tartiflette
Serves 4-6

1.5kg potatoes (I like Vivaldi for this)
1 Reblouchon
1 clove garlic
400-500g bacon lardons
300ml creme fraiche
salt and pepper

I use a fairly small but deep rectangular roasting dish for this. Pre-heat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas Mark 6.

1. Butter your dish and rub it with garlic. I tend to smash the garlic a bit to get the skin off so I then leave bits of smashed garlic in the bottom of the dish.

2. Boil a pan of water, add a good pinch of salt and then cook the peeled potatoes until they are just done. Drain them and leave them to cool.

3. Fry the lardons for 2-3 minutes and put to one side.

4. Slice the cooled potatoes into slices (about 1 cm thick) and put one layer of them, using about

half the potatoes in the bottom of the dish.

5. On top of the potatoes sprinkle the lardons and then cover with creme fraiche.

6. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, not too much salt as the lardons will be quite salty.

7. Add the rest of the potatoes as a top layer an then slice the Reblouchon in half and lay on the top skin side downwards.

Tartiflette pre-cooking

8. Cook in the pre-heated oven for 20-25 minutes or until the top is sort of gooey and golden... and looks done.

Just remembered to get a photo as it was being served

Horseradish Potato Salad

Brother-in-law carving the beef

I'm excited because I've made potato salad twice in the last fortnight and although that may seem excessive it does mean that it's nearly summer again. I used to have no interest in potato salad at all until I realised it could actually taste of something and it was the ideal accompaniment to my rare roast beef and cherry tomato salad. Well the last two times my sister has been cooking the beef and I've been obsessively making the potato salad so I can feel like I've contributed something and I have to say it was well received. You can obviously do what you like but here's how I do it...

HORSERADISH POTATO SALAD
Serves 4-5

1kg new potatoes (I like Maris Piper's but you can use whichever you like)
4 heaped tbsps sour cream
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
2-3 tbsp horseradish sauce
Chives
Dill
Salt
Pepper

I do this by taste and by eye - you technically want more chives than dill (and you can leave the dill out completely if you are not a fan) - but you can do whatever you like. This is just yummy in a lunchbox too - in the summer I make up a batch and then have it with smoked mackerel and salad leaves. Yum.

1. Cook the potatoes until they are fork soft, drain and leave to cool to room temperature.

2. In the bottom of a big bowl that you want to serve the potatoes in put all the other ingredients except the salt and pepper - I chop the herbs in with scissors.

Potato Salad does not look lovely when photographed...

3. When the potatoes are cooked chop them in half or in quarters and mix in with the other ingredients. Add salt and pepper and taste. You can add more horseradish, herbs or seasoning anytime.

Crumbly Cheese Mash with Leek Butter

Mashed potato is such an all round favourite I was incredibly nervous about messing with the recipe but then I thought everyone loves mash and most people love cheese so the two combined will probably be a winner. And it was - it was good enough that I ended up spooning it straight into my mouth from the bowl at the end of lunch. I thought it was going to be a lot more sickly than it was but instead it was just delicious and I've craved it ever since. I served this with my Roast Pork Belly but it's great on its own with crispy bacon on top.

Now I saw this recipe in a magazine somewhere and I wrote it down... if it's yours I'm sorry for not crediting you but WELL DONE.

CRUMBLY CHEESE MASH WITH LEEK BUTTER
Serves 6

300g floury potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
2tbsp softened butter
1 small glove of garlic, grated
4 tbsp creme fraiche
600g Wensleydale cheese, chopped into small squares

For the leek butter:
1 leek
140g butter

1. Boil the potatoes in salted water until tender. Drain and either grate or mash. Grating's best but mashing's fine... food processing is just not ok for this.

2. Either while the potatoes are boiling or before you even start cooking your meal, split the leek length ways, trim off both ends and rinse well. Then chop really finely. I was cooking this for Sunday lunch and didn't want to be chained to my stove so I chopped these in the morning and I peeled the potatoes and left them standing in cold water too.

3. Melt the butter and ad the leek and leave this to simmer gently until tender.

4. Once they are cooked put the potatoes back in the pan and place over a very low heat. Add the butter, garlic and creme fraiche and beat with a wooden spoon.

5. Add the cheese a handful at a time and stir, preferably in a figure of eight shape. Season to taste

6. Serve topped with the leek butter.