This potato recipe is based on tartiflette, a Savoy dish. Waxy potatoes are simmered with white wine, onion and lardons, then smothered with a heady cheese like reblochon and baked until bubbly and brown. I varied mine, adding thyme and using an aromatic cow’s milk cheese, Hooligan, from Cato Corner Farm’s stand at the Union Square Greenmarket.

Ingredients

• Sea salt
• 2 pounds waxy potatoes, like fingerlings, peeled
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 small onion, thinly sliced
• ½ cup diced bacon (about 3 slices)
• 1 tablespoon chopped thyme
• ¾ cup white wine
•  Butter, for buttering gratin dish
• ¼ cup cream
• ½ pound fragrant semisoft cow’s milk cheese

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Fill a large pan with water, season with generous amount of salt. Add potatoes, and bring to a simmer. Cook until potatoes are almost tender but still slightly firm in center, about 10 minutes. Drain and slice thickly.
2. Return pan to medium heat. Add oil, onion and bacon, and stir. Cook until onion softens and bacon begins to brown. Fold in potatoes and thyme. Cook for 5 minutes. Pour in wine, and reduce until almost gone. Season potatoes with salt, if needed. (If potatoes are not yet cooked through, place a lid on pan and cook over low heat until tender.)
3. Butter a medium gratin dish. Pour in potato mixture and spoon over cream. Cut rind from cheese, and slice into large, thin wedges. Lay cheese over potatoes. Bake until cheese is melted, bubbling and golden brown.

Source: New York Times Cooking