Holy Indigenous Varietals, Batman!

I'm Blooking! Yes, blogging while I'm cooking. I can't believe the mess I'm in (wasn't there a rock song about that? Something to do with Doctor, Doctor, Please) but at least the first mess is behind me.

I'd drive you nuts if I posted three recipes in one shot, so let me do it post-by-post.

Twelve-Cheese Scalloped Potatoes with Bacon and Heavy Cream

Okay, I lost count of how many cheeses there are in this dish. Let's just say "lots." Right click to save and print for the attending cardiologist when you check in to ER.


Step one: The Mandoline

The "Ripple Cutter." If it seems to be grinning, it is.

See, you need a mandoline for this dish. Anything else and it will be a Fail, unless you're an expert potato slicer with an extremely sharp knife. So get one, a quality one. I have a Matfer.

Ingredients

2-3 large Idaho potatoes (don't use new or waxy Yukon Gold-type potatoes) depending on how many people you are going to serve

1 mid-sized red onion, very thinly sliced
4 slices thick bacon, preferably applewood-smoked, briefly broiled in the toaster oven and cut into one-inch slabs

Internal cheese
1 cup grated Gruyère cheese
1/2 cup aged cheddar
1/2 cup good goat cheese, sliced into rounds
1/2 cup Provolone cheese, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped garlic, mixed into the cheese
Parsley

Topping
1/2 cup Pecorino Romano cheese, grated, mixed into 1 cup crushed Italian-style croutons
3/4 cup heavy (35%) cream

Method
Ripple-cut the potatoes at about 1/8" thick. If not using immediately, immerse in cold water. Mix the garlic and parsley with the grated cheese

When ready to assemble dish, preheat oven to 350º (an oven thermometer is very handy).

Dry potato slices thoroughly with paper towels.

In a large cast iron pan, or baking dish, layer in the following order:

Potatoes to completely cover the bottom of the pan/dish
Bacon
Onions
Internal cheese, generously sprinkled
Cream, generously applied
REPEAT in same order

After the last layer of potatoes, sprinkle the remaining soft cheese mixture. Then  sprinkle thoroughly with Romano/bread crumb mixture.

Bake, uncovered, at about 250-300 degrees for half an hour. Check every ten minutes to make sure the top is not getting burned.

Cover pan/dish with lid or aluminum foil and bake one hour longer. Let rest. Serve.

Mandolined potatoes

The Suspects

The first layer

Ready to go into the oven

Eh voilà, your ticket to bump up to the head of the line to see Reza Pahlavi, your new cardiologist