Hum.

The posts have become rather infrequent lately. I'm super bogged down with five-day-a-week class that requires homework semi-reminiscent of high school. I don't really have the energy for that a second time around. But only two weeks left and then I have a year off.

I'm also getting really busy at work, trying to finish my media guide before our first soccer game at home, which happens to be in two weeks! So quick! Then I'm trying to balance cooking at home with exercising while desperately needing evening naps to keep me going.

It's been a busy two weeks!

Which brings me to the topic of today's post. Has anyone been watching the Next Food Network Star this season? I watched religiously! Well this season's winner, Melissa d'Arabian just aired her first show today. The more I kept watching, I grew to love that she was ALL about French food. The Food Network didn't have too many French cooks on the air.

But the more I learn about her, the more I get a little skeptical. She goes on and on about living in France and her French husband and his French family. Usually that kind of stuff is so exciting for me to hear and read about, but she's almost snooty in how she carries her French-ness.

Anyways, I was still really really really excited to see she made a Tartiflette! It took me back to my days living in France, especially my frequent visits to my dad who was living in Annecy! During my first trip up there, he informed me that the Tartiflette was the official food of the Savoie region (along with fondue, of course). I continually tasted different variants on this yummy potato torte (as Melissa calls it) wherever our French travels would take us (restaurants in Annecy, ski resorts in La Clusaz, even in the South of France near my region of Nice).

So here's the recipe for Melissa d'Arabian's Potato-Bacon Torte (aka Tartiflette):

Ingredients

* 4 strips bacon
* 3 sprigs fresh thyme
* 2/3 cup heavy cream
* 2 Pie Crusts, recipe follows
* 3 medium baking potatoes, peeled
* Salt and freshly ground black pepper
* 1/4 cup grated Gruyere cheese
* 1 egg yolk, whisked with a splash of water

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

In a skillet over medium heat, cook the bacon until just crispy. Drain on paper towel lined plate and set aside. Crumble the bacon when cool to the touch.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, heat the thyme and cream over low heat to a bare simmer. Turn off the heat and let steep for about 5 minutes. Remove the thyme sprigs.

Remove the pie pan from the refrigerator. Slice the potatoes in half lengthwise and then finely slice the potatoes. Working in circles, arrange the potato slices in the pie crust, stopping to season each layer with salt, pepper, and about 1/4 of the crumbled bacon. Continue layering until the pie pan is nearly full. Top with an even layer of the cheese and gently pour cream around and over the entire pie, allowing it to seep down between the potato slices. (You may not use all the cream.)

Roll out the remaining disk of refrigerated dough. Cover the pie with the dough and crimp the edges closed. Brush the top and edges of the crust with egg wash. Make a few slits in the center of the top crust, for the steam to escape, and put the pie pan on a baking sheet. Bake the torte until the crust is browned and crispy and the potatoes are cooked through, about 50 to 60 minutes. If the crust edges get too brown, cover them with some strips of aluminum foil. Remove the pie from the oven and let rest at least 15 minutes before cutting into wedges and serving.

Pie Crust:

* 1 cup butter (2 sticks), cubed and chilled
* 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 8 to 10 tablespoons ice water

Put the butter, flour, and salt in the food processor, and pulse lightly just until the mixture resembles wet sand. Add the water, 1 tablespoon at a time, pulsing briefly after each spoonful of water. Keep adding water until the dough just begins to gather into larger clumps. Transfer equal amounts of the dough into 2 resealable plastic bags and pat each into a disk. Let rest in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. Remove 1 of the disks from the bag to a flour coated surface. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out to a 10-inch round. Gently fit the rolled dough into a 9-inch pie pan, and refrigerate while you prepare the torte ingredients.

Yield: 2 (9-inch) pie crusts