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Tartiflette combines new potatoes, soft cheese, onions, wine and bacon. This recipe is adapted from one by the late Anthony Bourdain. Photo: SCMP/Jonathan Wong
Post MagazineFood & Drink

Bacon recipes, from tartiflette with Anthony Bourdain’s help to grilled oysters with onions

  • Baked in the oven, tartiflette combines new potatoes with bacon, loads of Reblochon cheese, onion and white wine
  • Needing just three steps like tartiflette, grilled oysters with bacon and onions could hardly be easier once you’ve shucked a dozen oysters
Food and Drinks
Susan Jung
Susan Jung
Why you can trust SCMP

I’m not one of those people who think everything tastes better with bacon. I believe there are exceptions – most desserts, for instance. But I do love bacon, be it pancetta, the super-intense Chinese dried meat called lap yuk, lean back bacon or the very fatty type made from pork belly, and usually have at least three types in my freezer.

Tartiflette

This recipe is adapted from one in Anthony Bourdain’s Les Halles Cookbook (2004).

I keep the skin on the potatoes but you can peel them if you like.

Anthony Bourdain’s Les Halles Cookbook (2004).

  • 1kg (2lb 3 oz) small to medium-sized new potatoes

  • 30ml (2 tbsp) cooking oil

  • 1 medium-sized onion, halved, then thinly sliced

  • 225 grams (8 oz) slab bacon, either home-made or shop-bought (skin removed)

  • 170ml (¾ cup) white wine

  • 450 grams (1 lb) Reblochon cheese, thinly sliced

  • Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 Scrub the potatoes but don’t peel them. Slice them about 5mm thick. Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil, add the potato then simmer until it’s barely tender; do not overcook. Drain, rinse the slices with cold water and drain again.

2 Dice the bacon. Heat the oil in a large skillet and add the onion. Cook over a medium-high flame for several minutes, or until the onion is soft and golden. Stir in the bacon and cook until lightly browned, then add the potatoes and wine. Season to taste with salt and pepper, then cook, stirring often, until the wine is absorbed.

3 Preheat the oven to 175 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit). Spread half the potato mixture into a heatproof dish then top with half the Reblochon. Repeat the layering then bake for 20 minutes, or until brown and bubbling. Serve immediately.
Shuck the oysters and cut the muscle that attaches the meat to the shell. Photo: Shutterstock

Grilled oysters with bacon and onion

  • 12 medium-sized fresh oysters, in the shell

  • 45 grams (1½ oz) unsalted butter

  • 1 small onion, finely chopped

  • 150 grams (5⅓ oz) slab bacon, either home-made or shop-bought (skin removed)

  • Freshly ground black pepper

1 Cut the bacon into small dice. Melt the butter in a skillet then add the onion and bacon. Cook over a low flame, stirring often, until the onion is soft and translucent. Put the mixture in a bowl and leave to cool.

2 Shuck the oysters and cut the muscle that attaches the meat to the shell. Rinse the bottom shells and dry them well. Put the oysters back in the bottom shells. Spread a layer of coarse salt in a baking dish and put the oysters on top (the salt keeps the oyster shells stable so they don’t tip over). Divide the onion and bacon mixture (including the buttery juices) between the oysters.

3 Turn the grill setting of the oven to high. Put the baking tray under the grill, as close to the heat as possible, and cook for just a few minutes, or until the bacon is sizzling and lightly browned. Put the oysters on plates and serve with crusty bread, to sop up the juices.

Styling: Nellie Ming Lee

These recipes are from our archives

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