Potato Gratin With Bacon And Thyme Food

RED POTATOES AND THYME

Steps:

• In a deep, medium skillet, bring water to a boil. Add quartered potatoes and simmer 12 minutes, until fork tender. Begin other recipes in your menu.
• Drain potatoes in a colander set over a pot. Allow the stock to cool and refrigerate for another use. Return the pan you cooked the potatoes in to heat over medium high. Add extra-virgin olive oil and butter, then, when butter melts add potatoes. Season potatoes with salt, pepper and chopped thyme. Coat and brown the potatoes, turning only occasionally, 7 or 8 minutes.

THE PERFECT POTATO GRATIN

Steps:

• I love roast potatoes and you'll always find them on my Christmas table. But, if you've got a big crowd for Christmas then this gratin is an exciting and quite luxurious way of serving potatoes. You could either make them instead of, or as well as, your roast potatoes.
• Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas 6. Butter the inside of an ovenproof dish, around 30cm x 30cm, and at least 6cm deep.
• Pour the milk and cream into a wide pan with the bay leaves and garlic. Bring to the boil, then simmer gently for a minute or two. Remove from the heat and season with salt and pepper.
• Add the potatoes and most of the thyme leaves and stir well. Spoon into the gratin dish and shake to even everything out. Sprinkle with the Parmesan then cover with an oiled piece of foil. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes.
• Meanwhile, fry the bacon in a little olive oil until crispy and golden. Add the remaining thyme and stir in the chestnuts. When your gratin is ready, remove the foil and spoon the bacon and chestnut mixture over the top. Pop it back in the oven for another 10 minutes until gorgeous and crispy on top.

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.

POTATO GRATIN WITH THYME

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Butter a 1 1/2-quart shallow baking dish.
• Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil. Peel potatoes and cut into 1/8-inch slices - a food processor is good for this. Add potatoes to boiling water and cook 4 minutes. Drain potatoes thoroughly in a colander.
• Arrange 1/3 of the potatoes in baking dish, top with 1/3 of the cheese, 1/3 of the thyme leaves, and sprinkle with salt and freshly ground pepper. Repeat twice more, ending with a layer of cheese and thyme.
• Heat milk just to boiling. In a small bowl whisk egg and add hot milk, stirring. Pour evenly over potatoes. Bake 30 minutes, or until top is golden and potatoes are tender.

POTATO GRATIN WITH BACON AND THYME

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°F. Cut off top 1/2 inch from head of garlic. Wrap garlic in foil and roast until soft, about 45 minutes. Cool. Squeeze garlic cloves into small bowl; mash with fork. Cover and reserve.
• Heat oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add half of onions and 1 tablespoon thyme and cook until slightly softened, stirring frequently, about 6 minutes. Add remaining onions and sauté until very soft, about 15 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook until deep golden brown, stirring frequently, about 40 minutes longer. Set aside.
• Sauté bacon in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat until bacon is beginning to crisp around edges, about 4 minutes. Pour off drippings from pan. Add cream, 1 tablespoon roasted garlic, and 2 teaspoons thyme; simmer until slightly thickened, about 4 minutes. Cool.
• Preheat oven to 400°F. Peel and thinly slice potatoes with mandoline or knife. Spoon 1/2 cup cream mixture over bottom of 8x8x2-inch metal or ceramic baking dish. Arrange 1/3 of potato slices over cream, overlapping as necessary. Sprinkle with pepper and 1/3 teaspoon coarse salt. Spread half of caramelized onions over potatoes. Spoon half of remaining cream mixture over onions. Cover with half of remaining potatoes. Sprinkle with pepper and 1/3 teaspoon salt. Spread remaining onions over potatoes. Spoon all but 2 tablespoons cream mixture over onions. Cover with remaining potato slices. Sprinkle with black pepper and remaining 1/3 teaspoon salt. Drizzle with remaining cream mixture. Sprinkle with remaining 1 teaspoon thyme. Cover tightly with plastic wrap, then foil.
• Bake until potatoes are tender when pierced with knife (pierce knife through foil), about 45 minutes. Carefully remove foil and plastic wrap (steam will be released). (Can be prepared 2 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.) Increase oven temperature to 500°F. Bake until top is golden brown, about 10 minutes longer (or about 15 minutes if at room temperature). Let stand 10 minutes. Serve.

POTATO GRATIN

Steps:

• 1. Peel and wash the potatoes and slice them into rounds 1/8 inch thick, using a mandoline, the slicing disk of a food processor, or a sharp knife.
• 2. Generously butter a 9 by 12-inch heavy shallow baking dish, preferably earthenware or cast-enamel, or an oval gratin dish of comparable size. (You can also use a 12-inch cast-iron skillet.) Rub the dish with half of the crushed garlic.
• 3. In a small saucepan, bring the half-and-half to a simmer with the remaining garlic and season generously with salt and pepper. Set aside.
• 4. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Arrange the potatoes in one overlapping layer on the bottom of the dish. Season the layer generously with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Arrange two more layers on top, seasoning each layer liberally. You might not need all the potatoes. Press the layers down to compact them. Pour in enough half-and-half to come up just a little below the top layer of potatoes. Set the baking dish on a larger baking sheet, cover with foil, and bake until the potatoes feel tender when pierced with a knife, about 1 hour.
• 5. Raise the oven temperature to 425°F, remove the foil, and bake until the top begins to brown, about 10 minutes. Pour just enough cream to cover the top, dab it with crème fraîche, if using, and sprinkle evenly with the Parmesan. Bake until the top is brown and bubbly, 15 to 20 minutes more. Remove from the oven and let the potatoes stand for 10 minutes to absorb the cream. Cut into squares and serve.