Dutch Oven Potatoes & French Bread

An old standard around here is Stove top Dutch Oven Potatoes. Everyone loves it and when I season it right, I'm happy! Here's how I do it:Preparations:

Cook 1/2lb. bacon (when I find my pictures, I'll describe how I do it.) Crumble and reserve.

Slice 1 onion,

Peel and slice 5-10 potatoes, depending on size and how many you are serving

Peel and cut into large match sticks, 5-10 carrots, depending on how much you like carrots

Fry one slice of bacon in the bottom of the Dutch Oven Pan. When crispy, remove from pan and add 1 sliced onion. Sprinkle generously with pepper and fry slightly. (just 2-3 minutes) Layer sliced potatoes and carrots together in about 1/2 " layer (or just enough to cover the onions). Sprinkle generously with salt (I like Sea Salt for potatoes) and lightly with pepper. Add another layer of potatoes and carrots. Sprinkle generously with garlic salt, a little sugar (abt. 1 TBSP) and pepper. Repeat these steps until all of the vegetables are in the pan. Add about 3/4-1 cup water depending on how many potatoes you have. You can always add more later or simmer with the lid off to let water evaporate, but we don't like them too dry. Stir lightly to remove most of the onions off the bottom. Put on lid and simmer. Stir 2-3 times during cooking to distribute seasoning and taste to see if more is needed. Don't stir too many times or your potatoes will go mushy. While cooking, crumble bacon, slice cheese and chop 5-6 green onions. When the potatoes are done, turn to low and sprinkle with bacon and green onions. Cover with sliced cheese. Cover until cheese is melted. Tweak as desired!

French Bread

1 1/4 cups warm water

3 TBSP olive oil (omit if you want a chewier bread; I do both ways depending on my mood)

3 TBSP sugar

1 1/2 tsp salt

4 cups flour

1 TBSP yeast

Place ingredients in bread pan. Select dough cycle.

When dough is done, put on cupboard sprayed with Pam. Roll into large rectangle. Cut the rectangle into 3 pieces.

Roll each piece tightly and roll the ends to taper. Place on greased cookie sheet. Brush with egg/water mixture (1 TBSP water). Make deep diagonal cuts in bread. I use a fork to hold the bread in place while I cut. If I don't, it slides around and getting uniform cuts is difficult. The fork lines don't show much in the end.

Let rise until doubled in size. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes. For crispier bottoms, sprinkle corn meal on your pan. For extra crispy crusts put another cookie sheet of water in the oven at the same time. (TIP!! Let the water pan cool before removing, but set the timer for an hour or so so that you remember to take it out. It will be hot, but not as hot.)

This is what the bread looks like just before putting it in the oven. As you can see, I'm not a perfectionist as to how it looks! It always gets eaten just the same. . . )

(I guess I should have taken a picture of the cooked bread :( )