Potato, Cabbage & Bacon Bake

This serves four as a main course, or six as a side dish.

½ lb bacon, cut into lardons

½ head small cabbage (either green or Savoy), halved & sliced

1 medium yellow onion, halved & sliced

Salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste

2 medium baking potatoes, peeled & sliced

4 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves only

100 g cheese of your choice

½ c low-sodium chicken stock

In Dutch oven, brown bacon over medium heat until the fat becomes foamy.  Remove bacon to paper towel to drain.  Discard all but 1 T bacon fat.

In the bacon fat over medium-low heat, cook the cabbage and onion, covered, until its volume has decreased approx 50%.  Season well with salt & pepper.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Butter an 8 X 8 pan well.  Cover the bottom of the pan with the potato slices from one of the potatoes, overlapping slightly as needed.  Season with salt & pepper.  Sprinkle with half the thyme, half the bacon, half the cabbage/onion mixture, and half the cheese.  Repeat.  Pour chicken stock over all.

Cover with plastic wrap, and microwave on full power for 5 minutes.  Remove plastic wrap, replace with foil, and bake for one hour.  After an hour, remove the foil and bake for an additional 15 minutes.  Allow to rest, uncovered, for 15 minutes before cutting & serving.