As Christmas approaches, grocery stores quickly go out of stock. Everyone is in a rush to make the best dinner and they put a lot of time and dedication into doing so. Recipes are passed on from generations and secret ingredients are taken out. The recipe I’ll be showing you is called Bacon Potatoes Au Gratin.

The dish serves 6 to 8 people; for ingredients you will need:

½ pound bacon

2 cloves garlic

4 pounds of potatoes (peeled and sliced)

1 teaspoon of freshly chopped thyme leaves

1 tablespoon of sea salt or kosher salt

1 teaspoon of fresh cracked black pepper

2 ½ cups of heavy cream

Once you have those ingredients, it’s time to get cooking. This dish is layers of creamy potatoes topped with a golden slightly crisp crust, this is practically comfort food, after all who doesn’t love potatoes?

Once started, you should preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Heat a sauce pan over medium heat, cook bacon until slightly golden, on both sides. Remove from pan and drain on paper towels, then set aside. Slightly crush the garlic cloves to open it up. Rub garlic over inside of 9 by 13-inch baking dish. Place sliced potatoes in a large bowl. Toss with thyme, salt and pepper until evenly coated.  Layer 1/3 of the potatoes in bottom of the baking dish. Cover with a single layer of bacon, then layer another 1/3 of potatoes, another layer of bacon, and finally another layer of potatoes. The next step is to pour cream over the potatoes, there should be enough cream that when the potatoes are pressed down, cream rises above potatoes. Place dish on sheet pan and put in oven.

You let the potatoes bake for 30 minutes,then pull them out of oven. With the back of a large wooden spoon of your choice, break the crust so the cream can start to form. Then return to oven, bake for another 20 minutes. Then break the crust again. After the third crust breaking, return to oven and continue to let it bake for another 20 minutes or so, until the top is a golden brown. Cool 15 minutes before serving.