DESERT SUNSET Quilt and Valentines Dinner

A few posts ago I showed you the center of this quilt.

DESERT SUNSET from Quilt Sampler magazine, fall/winter 2008

This is going to hang on the wall in her hubby's man cave.

I love the border quilting design - it reminds me of porpoises playing with a beach ball.

So!  Did everyone have a nice Valentines Day?  DH and I went out for lunch, made the obligatory stop at Canadian Tire, bought a Lottery ticket at the variety store, then came home.  Friends were in the area so they popped in for a nice afternoon visit.  All in all, a good day.
For supper I tried out a new recipe from the LCBO Food and Drink magazine (Winter 2014 issue).  Yum, yum, yum.  Potatoes, onions, bacon and cheese.  All the food groups you need in the winter.  :-)

I healthied the meal up a bit with some steamed broccoli (which, surprisingly, DH actually ate.  Unless he slipped it to the dog when I wasn't watching.  Which is entirely possible.  Sneaky bastards, both of them.)

Here's the recipe, along with my changes based on the contents of my fridge at time of preparation:

Gratin of Potatoes, Bacon and Reblochon Cheese

Serves 4 as a main course or 6 as side dish

2 lbs potatoes cut in ¼” slices

1 Tbsp. olive oil

4 oz. (125 g) thick cut, double smoked bacon, chopped *

1 onion, thinly sliced

1 tsp (5 ml) Herbes de Provence

1 clove garlic, minced

½ cup (125 ml) whipping cream **

8 oz. (250 g) Reblochon cheese, rind removed, cut into cubes ***

1 Tbsp. finely chopped parsley

1. preheat oven to 425 f (220 c)
2. butter a shallow 6-cup (1.5 L) gratin or baking dish and place on a baking sheet ****
3. put sliced potatoes in a large saucepan of salted water.  Bring to a boil over high heat.  Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, covered, until potatoes are just tender but not breaking up, 10 – 12 minutes.  Drain well and set aside.
4. meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat.  Add bacon, onion and herbes de Provence and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is soft and golden, about 10 minutes.  Add garlic and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds.  Remove from heat.
5. layer one-third of potatoes in prepared dish.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper, being sparing with the salt and generous with the pepper.  Top with half of bacon mixture.  Repeat layers, finishing with a layer of potato.
6. drizzle cream into dish.  Scatter Reblochon evenly over potatoes.  Bake, uncovered, until bubbly and golden brown, about 25 minutes.  Let stand for 10 minutes, then sprinkle with parsley.

• * I used plain bacon.  When frying (see step 4) I did not use any oil.  I started the bacon first for several minutes, then added the onion after there was some rendered fat.
• ** I had no cream so I used 1 Tbsp. of butter melted with enough milk to make the required ½ cup.
• *** I had no Reblochon cheese.  I used a hunk of Brie along with enough parmesan cheese to make up approximately 250 g.
• **** I used a 2.5 L Corningware gratin dish.  This recipe JUST FIT with no spillover.