Cheese and potatoes are never a bad idea.

My friend Michelle is a foodaholic in every sense of the word. She likes to eat, she likes to cook, she likes to read about food and cooking, takes classes on food studies, and blogs about interesting food politics tidbits (though these tidbits will never stop me from eating chicken nuggets or other things deemed unnatural). She is probably the only other person in the world who likes all forms of cheese as much as I do. So this is why you can understand it is a very big point of pride when she is impressed with my cooking projects, seeing as how she is the one who inspired me to start cooking in the first place.

Last week, I decided to tackle the blue cheese red potato tart that was on my cooking queue. This was actually a pretty easy recipe once you get past the crust, which was kind of a pain (this was the part of the recipe that impressed Michelle). The recipe warns you that it may be difficult but with a little "elbow grease," it comes together nicely. But all the "elbow grease" just caused it to dry out more so I had to keep sprinkling water in the dough to prevent 100% crumblage. Then it crumbled anyway when I tried to pick up my flattened crust and put it in the pie pan, so I just put it in pieces and smooshed them all together.


ANYWAY, once you get past the crust, ingredients are really simple. You just need baby red potatoes, crumbled blue cheese, heavy cream, one egg yolk, and whatever seasoning you want (I used rosemary). Slice the potatoes, cook them in a saucepan until they're tender, then dry them off and place them in your pie pan in overlapping concentric circles. Sprinkle the blue cheese on top, pour your mixture of yolk and cream over the potatoes, and season. Then cook for about 45-50 minutes. Full recipe can be found here.

Mine was not as pretty as the one in photos on smitten kitchen. And I don't think I cooked it quite long enough because the cream came out a little more liquid-y than custard-y (though it looks much better once it's been in the fridge and you eat the leftovers!). However, it was delicious! And it made the apartment smell so good! Colin even liked it and he hates blue cheese. This would be a great dish to bring to a potluck. I paired this with a simple salad for a nice balanced dinner. Cheese and potatoes...never a bad combination.