Bacon and Potato Pie

Most people have had the pleasure of experiencing a food memory be it walking past a restaurant and reminded of your first date or a bakery that made one think of their mother’s home cooking. As a young girl I remember going to my great grandmother’s home for potato scallop and baked ham. Her place always smelled good so whenever I make a potato scallop I am always reminded of my grandmother. The bacon and potato pie featured here also conjures up memories of my East coast upbringing. My Mom used to make something like this and it was while I was watching a cooking program, ‘Chef at Home‘ that I needed to rekindle some of that hometown cooking in my Asian kitchen. Thank you Michael for helping me revisit my childhood!

Serves 4-6
3-4 large potatoes thinly sliced
1-2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
bacon strips
1 onion thinly cut into rings
freshly ground pepper

Method:
Preheat oven to 180c (350f)
Lay bacon strips in a 9″ pie plate so that the strips hang out over the side of the pie plate. Arrange potato slices on top of the bacon (around the pie plate) overlapping a bit until you end up in the middle of the pan. Top with onion slices, some of the cheese and freshly ground black pepper. Repeat with potato slices, onion, cheese and pepper. Bring the bacon slices to middle of the pie plate. Cover with a heavy lid (an ovenproof saucepan lid will suffice) and bake 40-45 minutes or until potatoes are cooked.

The Culinary Chase’s Note: No need to add salt as there will be ample from the cheese and bacon. You may want to remove the lid and cook another 5-10 minutes if the bacon needs a bit of browning. What’s nice about this recipe is that there are no real measurements which is how ‘old style’ home cooking was done. It’s also one way to increase or decrease an ingredient as you see fit and no one will know the difference. You can add garlic, fresh thyme etc. for added flavor or just leave it like it is. Enjoy!