Thanksgiving Test Drive: Potatoes Au Gratin
Posted by in Food
I must be totally in the minority, but I’ve never had potatoes au gratin. I’ve had very similar dishes, but they always include cheese! Martha has a recipe for Potato Gratin in the November Everyday Food. I gave it a try, not expecting to be too excited about it.
This was incredibly easy to make and it has very few ingredients. You rub the baking dish with garlic. You boil cream (2 1/2 cups) with salt and pepper and a dash of nutmeg. You peel and slice your potatoes (3 lbs) thinly and layer them in the dish. Then you pour the cream mixture over it and bake it covered for 45 minutes at 375. You remove the cover and cook for another 40 minutes. I cut this recipe about in half since it says it feeds 12.
The only problem I had was the dish bubbled over in the oven and filled the house with smoke. Other than that, it was a snap.
And I really liked it! I thought it was going to be pretty bad considering it’s basically potatoes and cream and not much else. I was also sure I was going to long for cheese (because don’t I always?). I didn’t. The potatoes turned out so tender and delicious and it really was a great accompaniment to the organic steak we had. I’m still surprised at how good it really was. I wouldn’t make this for Thanksgiving though – give me mashed potatoes any day!
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Hi Brette,
I love potato gratin – it is so rich. I only have it on special occasions as otherwise I would eat it all day long. Yours looks very good.
Pru
It actually sounds really yummy to me! And easy. I have mixed feelings about nutmeg in potatoes though, so I might skip that spice…
You’re not alone–I’ve never had it either! But that’s probably because I have an aversion to creamy/cheesy things in general. Not such a good thing for a food blogger, but at least I can devote those calories to chocolate.
Hmm … sans cheese? I … don’t … know … about … that. :o)
I wouldn’t make this for Thanksgiving either. What is Martha thinking?
Do you know what type of potatoes works best for this recipe?
This recipe reminds of the one suggested in Cook’s Illustrated–equally good and few ingredients. Sorry about the fire in the kitchen, tho!
I used Yukon Gold and they were good. The recipe calls for russets.
I know. Believe me. It actually was good though. But almost everything is better with cheese!
OMG! This looks SO yummy! My mom used to make au gratin potatoes for us all the time when I was a kid. (The kind with the cheese.) To be honest, I had forgotten all about that until I looked at this post.
I have two pounds of potatoes that I got from my CSA a few weeks ago. They are still around because I am the only one who eats potatoes in my family. However, this recipe might make potato-lovers out of my girls! I’ll try it, and let you know how they come out. (I sort of have sometimes-iffy cooking skills…)
Let me know how it works out for you! I always thought au gratin potatoes were complicated somehow, but this was so easy.
This looks so good. I just made the Pioneer Woman’s version of potatoes au gratin – definitely one of my favorite dishes.
I’ll have to try her version next
I made these just tonight! I did have bacon leftover from breakfast, so I added it on top of half of the potatoes before finishing. So, so good. I didn’t MISS cheese, but I don’t think it would have hurt these either! Picky boyfriend approved.
Bacon is always a positive addition! Glad you enjoyed them and the BF did too.
I just wanted to say that I made this tonight for dinner! I actually added some fresh rosemary to the cream sauce and let that simmer for a few minutes before pouring it over the potatoes. Gave it an amazing rosemary flavor. I also mixed 1/4 cup of shredded parm and 1/4 cup plain breadcrumbs and sprinkled them over the top when there was about 25 minutes left. Yum.
That sounds stupendous!