I recently tried a potato gratin from Everyday Food, but when another one turned up in January Living, I had to give it a go. I swore just about a week or two ago that I never wanted to eat another potato after eating them at every holiday meal and gathering we went to, but apparently I’ve recovered from that.

This gratin was pretty easy. I peeled and sliced about 2 and a half pounds of white potatoes. I rubbed the baking dish with a garlic clove (although I never really taste the garlic when I do this, so I wonder if it really has any impact), and boiled 1 and a half cups of cream, 1 cup milk, 1/4 tsp nutmeg and salt together.  I mixed this with the potatoes and put them in a baking dish, smoothing the potatoes out. On top, I added 3 oz Gruyere cheese. Martha says to bake for an hour and 15 minutes. By about 50 minutes, this was looking quite brown. The rest of my dinner wasn’t ready, so I turned the oven off and let it sit. Then about 10 minutes before we were ready to eat, I turned it back on. In the time that it rested, it set up quite nicely. When I turned the oven off it was still very liquid looking. When I took it out of the oven it had just the right amount of liquid to potatoes.

I really liked this and would make it again. It’s simple and somehow has more flavor than it should, given there are hardly any ingredients.

I recently tried a potato gratin from Everyday Food, but when another one turned up in January Living, I had to give it a go. I swore just about a week or two ago that I never wanted to eat another potato after eating them at every holiday meal and gathering we went to, but … Read more →

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!

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 … Read more →