Chef Chris Mathias of Cafe Domestique spent the last few years in France and some of that time, he was cooking at a restaurant in Alpe d’Huez. Tartiflette is a hearty dish from the French Alps.  It is made with potatoes, Reblochon cheese, lardons and onions.    When Michael Barry was racing as a young amateur for Velo Club Annemasse in the French Alps, the family that lived above him would often have a dish of Tartiflette ready for him after he completed long winter training rides  or when he returned from a hard stage race in the mountains.   They encouraged him to try all the regional specialties and this was a favorite.

Tartiflette

Ingredients:

• 500g Yukon gold potatoes 
• 1/2 wheel of Reblochon (or Canada L’origine de Charlevoix is a great alternative).
• 150g lardons 
• 150 sliced onions
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 20 cl dry white wine 
• 1 clove garlic
• Salt and pepper 
• Creme fraiche it sour cream 
• Chives to garnish

Directions

• Peel and cook potatoes until tender in the middle,  drain and leave to cool.
• Warm pan on stove to medium add butter then Lardons cook for 5 mins then add onions until nice and golden brown , then add white wine and cook a further 5 mins .
• Layer sliced potatoes, onion, lardons mixture and slices of cheese but make sure to leave enough cheese to at least half cover the top .
• Do 2 or 3 layers like this and then top with left over onion mixture and nice large slices of cheese. 
• Place in warmed 180 Celcius oven for 25 to 35 minutes until nice and warm in the centre then place under to grill to melt the cheese on top until it is golden brown. Leave to cool for a few minutes then add a generous dollop of creme  fraiche or sour cream with some chopped chives and a little flour de sel and fresh cracked pepper. enjoy with a bottle of Apremont from Savoie.
• Finally wash down with a drop  of Chartreuse or Genepi. Facon L’Alpe d’ Huez 

Note: you can easily layer in a casserole and leave in fridge over night so you can just place in oven when  you get back from long day of cycling or skiing.