French potatoes which French don’t know about ...

 One of the  Slovakian  traditional dishes that we call ‘French potatoes.’

Boil potatoes in their skins, remove the skin and chop them into fries or slice them as per dauphinoise potatoes. Then add chopped onions, a sausage like chorizo is good, or if you prefer a more spiced sausage we use Hungarian sausage (for my recipe I used frankfurters), boiled eggs, gherkins. I like to everything into similar sized pieces. I like to bake it in the old fashioned way, ie. Oil the dish and sprinkle the base with breadcrumbs, this will prevent the dish from burning. It also makes the dish easier to clean and it is tastier 😁.

Place the potatoes at the bottom of the dish to form the first layer. Then form the second layer from the gherkins, sausage, onions and boiled eggs. Then covered with another layer of potatoes. When I am cooking for 2 people this is more than enough. (I used 3 medium potatoes, 2 hard boiled eggs, 1 &1/2 sausage, half a medium onion, 3 small gherkins) but if you are cooking a bigger dish you can also repeat the layers and prepare more of the ingredients. I was cheeky and added chopped bacon on the top 😋. That is not in the original recipe, but I like to do my twist.😉

To bind the mixture together I added whisked cream with egg and salt and pepper to season. I also added cheese (I had cheddar available at home) which I poured over the ‘French potatoes’ and baked at 180c for 40min or longer, depending on your oven. I tend to put half of this mixture first and bake around 10-12min and then add the rest. That way it will allow the mix to rise better. Some people add cumin, or they would use sour cream instead of double cream.  Everyone has their own way as they like to make it or inherited their family recipe. I try to keep things simple. 

This meal from potatoes baked with smoked meat, eggs and cream is not known to the french who wouldn’t recognise the name ‘French potatoes.’  It is  believed that this name was given to the dish when King Ludovit XIV wanted to be one of the first European people to enjoy potatoes when they first arrived  from America. In France a similar dish is known under the name of ‘tartiflette’ which became popular in 80’s when a famous cheesemaker promoted the recipe using their cheese.

I wonder what other people would serve this with, other than more gherkins and chorizo on the side?

Bon appetit.