CHEESY BACON POTATO CAKE

Potatoes are having a moment of celebrity thanks to Stephen Colbert’s “Is potato” joke. And why shouldn’t we celebrate them? They are easy to grow, nutritious, inexpensive and delicious when fried, baked, or mashed. I’m always looking for new ways to use them, so here’s my take on a cheesy bacon potato cake. I’ll admit, I borrowed the technique from a Claire Saffitz’s New York Times recipe, but I’ve tweaked it quite a bit substituting yogurt for sour cream and adding in bacon and cheese.

INGREDIENTS

6 large Baking Potatoes

4 strips bacon

5 Tablespoons of butter

6 garlic cloves, minced

½ cup gruyere, large grate

½ cup full-fat yogurt

salt and pepper to taste

¼ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

Chopped chives for garnish

Sour cream for garnish

PREPARATION

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Wash the potatoes and poke with a fork. Place on baking sheet and bake for 75 minutes.

Remove from oven and let cool for ten minutes.

In a cast iron skillet, render 4 strips bacon until crispy. Drain on paper towels. When cool, crumble and set aside. Remove all but one tablespoon of bacon fat.

Melt the butter. Add the garlic and cook for about three minutes until it starts to brown. Remove pan from heat,

Scoop out the flesh from the potatoes and place in a large bowl. I like to include the skins from two potatoes for texture, so chop them into ½”-inch pieces and add them to the bowl. (If you’re not a fan of skins, you can leave them out.)

Add in ½-cup of the gruyere, the yogurt, bacon, salt, pepper, and cayenne. Gentle fold together.

Place the skillet back on the stove and turn the heat to medium-high. Add the potato mixture to the skillet and gently fold it into the butter/garlic mixture. Flatten the potato mixture to even it out in the pan. Cook for about six minutes until the bottom begins to brown.

Shake the skillet to loosen the potato cake. If it doesn’t move, cook for one more minute. If it still doesn’t move, gently use a spatula to loosen it from the pan.

Place the skillet into the oven and bake for 30 minutes until lightly browned.

Remove from oven and let cool for ten minutes. Shake the pan to make sure the cake is loose. If not, use a spatula to loosen the bottom. Flip over onto a plate and garnish with sour cream and chives.