I saw this recipe on FoodNetwork.com, and had to try it.  This is how I modified it, so I didn’t have to cook it for 1.5hours, but still it was in the oven for one hour.  I made it on St. Patrick’s Day to go along with the corned beef and they went together, so well. 

The corned beef was easy.  It was all ready to put in the crockpot with a spice packet enclosed.  I put 1 cup of water along the sides and the spices on top and cooked for about 9 hours on low.  It was super tender, and the leftovers we just used with some eggs for another meal.

Recipe:

2 pieces of bacon, diced
1/2 cabbage, shredded (I used the cheese grater)
1 TBSP butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 large baking potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup Parmesan, grated
Salt and pepper to taste

Fry up the bacon until its a nice golden brown and remove from pan.  Add the butter and garlic.  Brown the garlic a little and then add in the cabbage.  Stir up well.  Let the cabbage cook and wilt for about 5 minutes, and then mix in the bacon.  Meanwhile, put the cream and 1/2 the Parmesan in a bowl with the salt and pepper.  Use a bowl big enough for the potatoes.  Slice up the potatoes and put into the cream.  Mix everything well so they are covered.  Butter a smaller baking dish, and put about 2-3 layers of potatoes, with a small layer of cheese in between.  Put the cabbage over the layers.  Now layer the remaining potatoes and add any remaining cream over the top.  Sprinkle the remaining Parmesan on top and cover with lid or aluminum foil.  Bake at 400 degrees for 45 minutes.  Remove the cover/foil and bake for 15 more minutes.

Yummy cheesy, gratiny goodness!

Kitchen Tip:  I use quite a bit of garlic in my cooking, and prefer to use fresh whenever possible.  It gets messy and tedious to constantly be chopping up garlic.  I usually buy a head of garlic and then mince the whole thing up at once and store in a little glass bowl with a lid.  To keep the garlic moist and from drying out, I just drizzle it with olive oil.  I’m a Pampered Chef addict, so I use my food chopper and small measuring bowls for this.  I know Kim is a Pampered Chef consultant if you ever need to order anything! 

I also wholly recommend the mix n’ chop.  I use it all the time.  It makes frying up meat/turkey sausage so easy because you can chop them up in tiny pieces while frying.  Plus if you need to add mushrooms, you can throw them in whole and chop them up as you cook them.  It doesn’t scratch my non-stick pans either.  Oh, I also use it to mash and mix avocados for guacamole.

I could go on and on and on! 🙂  Some of the stuff is expensive, but I’ve been buying for about 10 years now.  A piece at a time isn’t so bad.  I do however, have a bone to pick with them on their Outdoor Party Sticks.  I thought they would be for when you are sitting in a chair outside…well, they are less than a foot long.  I guess it would help if I had read the description.  Apparently they are only for when you are have a wine and picnic on a blanket in a beautiful serene park with no small children within running over it distance.  I wanted these for when we are sitting in our comfy lawn chairs at parties in the summer.  Very disappointed!