West Cork Potatoes

This week John dug up the last of our potatoes. It was heavy work, the ground had gone claggy around them. But we have them now and our potato vintage for 2011 has been a good one. The best tasting potatoes were the well-named Mayan Golds; the British Queens were the most productive; the Shetland Blacks were the most unusual.

This recipe is based on a dish from the Savoie in France - tartiflette, but it easily could have been invented on our peninsula. We make it with home-grown potatoes and onions, Gubbeen bacon from nearby Schull and our village cheese, Durrus. We cook it in Donegal rapeseed oil, so the only thing we can't produce locally is the cup of white wine.

West Cork Potato
500 g potatoes
1 onion
50 g smoked bacon, cut into lardons
1 cup white wine
100 g semi-soft Cork cheese (Durrus, Ardrahan, Gubbeen or Milleens) diced
Irish rapeseed oil

Peel and boil the potatoes until just cooked, then allow to cool and slice them.  Preheat the oven to 200ºC.

Slice the onion in quarter moons, and fry in 1 tablespoon of oil until soft and golden, then toss in the bacon lardons and fry quickly.

Add the sliced potatoes to the pot, then pour in 1 cup of white wine, and add the diced cheese on top. Place in the heated oven and cook for 15-20 minutes until everything is intermingled.