Potato Gratin with Creamy Cheese Sauce and Bacon Bits

One of the joys of working from home is being able to spend a little more time in the kitchen, even if you barely have a minute left to "log in". I like the adrenaline rush when the pot is boiling  and there goes my alarm saying "hey you gotta go now". Then come the sprinting and running up the stairs to my little office space. :)

We had so much potatoes last weekend. When Archie and I have our market day, he's actually in-charge of the vegetables. Because of too much excitement, he kind of "unintentionally" hoards tomatoes, onions, garlic (which I don't mind by the way because I love garlic!), carrots and potatoes. 

The first four are fine as we use them most of the time. Lately, the potatoes aren't used much. I have been watching on my diet for the past couple of months that I veered away from eating starchy foods (and lessened my carb intake and blah blah!)

So with all the potatoes piling up on our veggie tray, I figured they need to be given the attention they deserve! I thought of making mojos, mashed potatoes, sautéed potatoes with rosemary and gratin. I know, potatoes are very versatile! OK, so the debate in my mind (and tummy) went on for a few minutes and the gratin won! Which hubby was so happy about :)

I have no proper recipe for this, nor I followed a classic procedure on how to make a potato gratin.

Here's what I had and what I did: 

8 medium-large potatoes

8 cloves of garlic, minced

olive oil

about 2 tbsps butter

about 200 grams of bacon, chopped

3 packs of all purpose cream 

1/2 cup fresh milk

salt and pepper

2 blocks of quick melting cheese, grated

about 1 cup of grated mozzarella

First I buttered a 9 X 13 pan, set aside and pre-heat the oven at 180C.

I boiled the potatoes until they're tender enough but not to the point that they're mushy (I think this took about 30 mins to boil and make them tender) peeled and sliced them in rounds about 1/4 inch thick (I think this is thicker that the usual) and set them aside.

For the creamy cheese sauce and bacon bits, I sautéed the garlic in olive oil and butter, then added the chopped bacon. When bacon was cooked, I poured the cream, about 1/2 cup of grated quick melting cheese and fresh milk, a little salt and pepper to taste.

To assemble, I placed the first layer of the sliced potatoes on the buttered pan, poured some the sauce, just enough to cover the layer, sprinkled some grated cheese, then onto the next layer and so on. For this batch I had 3 layers. For the final topping, I used a combination of quick melting cheese (what's left of it) and mozzarella cheese. (I forgot I had Parmesan cheese. totally!)

I placed the pan in the oven for 35 to 40 minutes, rotating pan halfway through until the top was already a bit toasted and cream is bubbling. I placed the pan on the cooling rack and waited for a few minutes before serving.

So this was what I had for lunch on my busy Tuesday and Archie's "baon" for work! :)

Ahhh, the perks of working from home = the joy of having home cooked meals, served warm with love <3

P.S.

Days are getting busier and fuller. My little boy will be back to school next week! I didn't forget that it was my blog's 3rd birthday last May 16. Belated happy birthday bloggy! I so wanted to write a birthday post but that day was packed, as well as the following day! So better late than never! ;)