Gratin Of Potatoes Onions Bacon And Cheese Food

POTATO GRATIN WITH CHEESE AND BACON

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 300 F / 150 C / Gas 2 and grease a 10 x 12-inch (25 x 30-centimeter shallow baking dish with a little of the butter.
• Peel and slice the potatoes into thick slices, approximately 1/8-inch (3-millimeters) thick. Place the potatoes in a colander and rinse thoroughly under cold, running water. Dry with kitchen paper and season well with salt and pepper (potatoes soak up a lot of salt while cooking, so be generous). Keep to one side.
• Cut the cheese into small cubes.
• Heat a large frying pan to hot but not burning. Dry fry (fry without any fat) for about 5 minutes until the bacon lardons are crisp and golden. Drain on kitchen paper. Place half the potatoes neatly into the dish, sprinkle over the bacon, then top with half the cheese followed by the remaining potatoes.
• Pour in enough cream to just cover the potatoes-don't worry if you don't use it all. Dot the surface with the remaining butter.
• Bake in the preheated oven until the potatoes are tender when pricked with a knife, about 1 1/4 hours.
• Remove the baking dish from the oven, dot the surface with the remaining cheese and return to the oven and cook until bubbling and golden, about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to stand for 15 minutes covered in foil before serving.

GRATIN OF POTATOES, ONIONS, BACON AND CHEESE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400°F First, simmer the potatoes in plenty of salted water until completely cooked through. Drain and leave to cool.
• Once they have cooled enough to handle, cut the potatoes into 1/2in slices, season with salt, freshly ground pepper and freshly grated nutmeg and set aside.
• While the potatoes are cooking, sweat the onions with the bacon in the vegetable oil in a heavy-based frying pan for 10 minutes until soft, turn up the heat and brown, stirring constantly.Turn off the heat and set aside.
• Mix the grated cheese together with the creme fraiche and set aside.
• Generously butter a gratin dish and cover with half of the sliced potatoes followed by the onions and bacon and the second half of the potatoes.
• Pour over the white wine and spread the cheese and creme fraiche mixture over the top. Season with freshly ground pepper and grated nutmeg and bake for 15-20 minutes in the pre-heated oven until golden. Serve piping hot.

TARTIFLETTE (FRENCH POTATO, BACON, AND CHEESE CASSEROLE)

Steps:

• Boil unpeeled potatoes with salt in water over high heat; reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are easily pierced with a knife but are not too soft, 15 to 25 minutes depending on size. Remove potatoes from water to cool.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Cook bacon in a skillet over medium to medium-high heat until cooked but not quite crisp and most of the fat is rendered out, 5 to 7 minutes. Push bacon to one side of the pan and blot up some of the fat with a wadded paper towel. Add onion slices. Season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper and cayenne. Cook and stir over medium heat until onions are soft, sweet, and golden, about 6 minutes. Add white wine; cook for 2 minutes and deglaze pan. Remove from heat.
• Cut wheel of cheese into 2 semi-circles. Place each half cut side down and split in half to form 2 more semi-circles, each with a rind side and creamy cheese side.
• When potatoes are cool enough to handle, peel off the skin. Slice into fairly thick slices, about 1/3 inch thick.
• Place a little over half the potato slices onto bottom of a 2-quart shallow baking dish. A little overlapping is fine. Sprinkle with a bit of salt. Pour in bacon/onion/wine mixture and spread over potatoes in an even layer. Arrange the remaining potato slices over the top, overlapping as needed. Spread creme fraiche over the potatoes. Place down cheese pieces, rind side up. Transfer pan to a baking sheet. Bake in center rack of preheated oven until browned and potatoes are tender, 45 to 50 minutes.

MOLTEN FRENCH CAMEMBERT POTATO GRATIN WITH BACON AND ONIONS

Steps:

• Pre-heat oven to 210C,425°F.
• Grease an ovenproof dish, I use a French Poele, a small pan like earthenware dish with a handle, but any oven proof dish which is fairly deep will be okay!
• Peel and boil the potatoes whole; cook for about 20-25 mins or until JUST tender but still holding their shape well.Plunge them into cold water to stop them cooking and set them to one side.
• Meanwhile, heat up a frying pan and cook the lardons or bacon cubes together with the diced onions. Cook them over a medium heat, pouring away any excess fat. Fry them until the bacon is crispy but not too brown and the onions are tender.
• Mix together the creme fraiche and glass of wine. Season the mixture very well with black pepper and just a touch of salt, as the bacon will be salty.
• Take your Camembert cheese and very carefully slice it into two pieces horizontally.
• Drain the cooled potatoes and cut them into 1/4" thick slices. Layer half of them in to the greased oven proof dish and then cover with half of the onion and bacon mixture.
• Pour over half of the wine and creme fraiche mixture. Place one half of the whole Camembert on top. Repeat the layer in the same order: potatoes, bacon and onion mixture, wine and creme fraiche mixture and end the layers by placing the last half a Camembert cheese on top.
• Season with black pepper again and just a pinch of salt if you wish.
• Bake in a pre-heated oven for about 45 minutes or until the gratin is brown and bubbling.
• Set to one side for about 3-5 minutes, it firms up a bit and is easier to serve then!
• Serve with a big bowl of crisp green salad, assorted Charcuterie such as cold meats, salami, terrine and sausage AND not forgetting crusty bread to mop all those juices up with!
• Great with a well chilled and dry white wine such as Chablis or Chardonnay.