Today's featured dish is one I've wanted to make for many years and never quite got around to it. (Possibly because I'm lactose intolerant. Eh, never you mind.) Then a friend invited me over for grilled pork loin the other night and I thought, here's my chance! Carpe carbem! (Latin for seize the carb!) This side dish goes great with pork and I couldn't eat an entire pan of potatoes by myself. (Well, we know that isn't really true. I shouldn't eat an entire pan by myself. Let's call a spud a spud.)
Potatoes Au Gratin
2 lbs russet potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced on a mandolin (yes, it will make a difference if you don't use one)
3 cups of heavy cream
3 cups of Gruyere, shredded
2 tbsps butter (special kind from Whole Foods, so read on to find out more)
6 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 tsp salt
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| Old reliable. (And one of the great loves of my life. You never disappoint me. No no.) |
Gruyere seems to be a common choice for this style of potato dish, so I learned. It's a type of Swiss cheese that melts delightfully. Ooey-gooey is what you are going for, so this is the ticket to get there.
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| The cheese stands alone. |
This tool is the first must have of the day: a box grater. I got this one at the Williams & Sonoma Outlet with an additional 30% off. Even came with a little box and lid for any extra if you over shred. This entire block was done in like three minutes. (Well, with help from my pipe cleaner arms. Though an automatic cheese shredder sounds like a fantastic idea!)
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| The shredded cheese is inside the box. I tilted it so you could have a good peek. |
In no time, I was done with the entire wedge - voila! A mountain of cheese that is ready to go. I contemplated mixing a combination of cheeses, but decided to go simple the first time and really concentrate on basic flavors to see what I liked about it. There will be time to experiment more when I am certain I'll be making this dish again in the future. (Potatoes and cheese, what's not to love?)
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| A little muscle and you're set with a ton of cheesy lovin'. |
And now, a new ingredient from Whole Foods. My brother mentioned it to me recently. It looks like shortening, but tastes like butter. So what is it? Goat milk butter.
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| Big block. But I'm daring and brave enough to make a commitment. |
You wouldn't know it was any different except for the color. Instead of yellow, buttery yellow as we know it, it's white. Which may feel a little crazy at first, but you'll adjust. I did.
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| It only looks like lard, it really tastes just like butter. Would I lie to you? |
Add butter to a pot. A large thin slice as it's double the size of a normal stick of butter.
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| You could use less if you wanted. I didn't find this amount critical. |
Heavy cream and thyme sprigs go in next. The thyme is just for flavoring, I didn't want the green specs, so it goes in whole and then it can be fished out easily later.
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| Looks like a weed is growing out of the bottom of my pan. |
I'm not one to add a bunch of salt, but it definitely needs a little because potatoes can be bland. The butter is only lightly salted, so you're not getting a lot from that.
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| In ya go. |
Bring to a simmer and keep it there for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently to avoid a skin forming, until the cream heats up and tiny bubbles form on the sides. The heat will infuse the cream with the lovely, earthy thyme flavor and will add a subtle extra dimension that people will wonder what it is. (I don't like to give away all my secrets to my guests, so let's keep this just between us, okay?)
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| The springs stay in tact, so they are easy to remove from the cream. |
Another small investment that is imperative for this project: a mandolin. (Why this brand spells it with an 'e' on the end, I don't know. Maybe because it thinks it's French as I got it at Target, which everyone loves to call Tar-jay. Je ne sais pas porquoi?)
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| Didn't cost a lot. Maybe around $10. Not everything has to be expensive to work well. |
Place the mandolin on top of a bowl, peel the potatoes and slide them quickly with some force back and forth against the sharp blade until you're about 3/4 of the way down. The super thin, uniform slices will drop into the bowl. The fact that the slices are all exactly the same thickness will really contribute to even cooking later on.
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| It also came with two other blades you can switch out to make quick strips or fries. It's amazing! |
When you get closer to the bottom of the potato, you have to be super careful. You do not want to cut yourself accidentally on the sharp blade and should take every precaution. So it comes with this little guard that looks like a small top hat. You kind of jam that thing down on the nubbin of potato that is left and then push it against the blade until nothing remains. Fingers will be safe and sound.
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| It worked really well. You could never get slices this thin and uniform with a knife. |
Now for a lesson in cookware. I have become a big fan of Le Creuset enamel-coated cast iron and stoneware. I know, I know, you may think it doesn't matter and any brand will do, but I am here to disagree. I am fully aware these cost more, but they are worth every penny. I saved up. And this is how I acquired them at the best price possible: the outlet mall. They sell "seconds" there. That may sound awful to you, but really, it's great. And I'm not rich enough to be a snob and agree to paying for "firsts" at retail prices.
The outlet is where a pan with even the slightest flaw goes to pasture. And the flaws can be SO minor. Like a tiny dimple in the enamel on the outside. Or a small scratch on the inside of a lid. The have such high standards. Because of these tiny imperfections, they mark them down A LOT and you'll have a hard time finding a better price if you happen to have an outlet locally. Then, to make it even better, on top of that discount, they also send out coupons. When I went several months ago, they even had a scratch off game. I got 25% off, which was nice, but another lady had 35% off. (Why yes, I was eavesdropping and later stalking her.) I was bold that day, bolder than toast, and said to her, "If you're not going to use yours, please let me know." What the heck, right? Who wouldn't want to save an extra 10% when they are spending three figures. She walked around a bit and then came back to me in about 10 minutes and said, "Here, you can have it." I was ecstatic! Because I knew there were three pieces I had researched and wanted. This large gratin pan was one of them. (And I learned the coupon could be used all month long, which was additionally full of fabulousness and why I went back for a fourth piece.)
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| Seconds were first choice for me! |
Because this was an outlet, I knew that not all colors were available at all times in the pans I wanted. So I came to terms at the get go that I was totally good with things not matching and instead, went with the color I decided fit the personality of each pan. For the large 1 quart oval gratin I chose kiwi green. I lightly buttered the inside.
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| I had individual wax paper pieces and used some of the goat butter. |
Here's where we start the layering action. First layer, potatoes. Cover the bottom of the dish by slightly overlapping the slices.
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| You don't want to see any of the bottom, so fill in those gaps. |
Back to the heated cream. Take a ladle and pour some of it over the potatoes.
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| Just enough to coat them all. |
Take a third of the cheese and layer that next, on top of the potatoes.
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| Doesn't have to be perfect. You're just trying to create space in between each potato layer. |
Next layer of potato slices goes on top of the cheese. Get them right up to the edges. Then ladle another third of the cream on top.
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| You can't even see that last cheesy layer. |
Rinse and repeat. Well, not exactly. But yes, repeat the cheese layer with another third to complete layer number two. Do this one more time with the same potato, cream, cheese pattern and you're done. The last layer is cheese and will look fantastic later when it's all melted.
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| Pre baking and picture perfect already. |
Bake on 400 degrees for approx 60 minutes covered, then another 10 uncovered until bubbly, top is browned and potatoes are soft. (Can put on broil for a few minutes to get them golden.)
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| Ridiculously good. Megan gave them a 10! (I gave them an 8, but I put high expectations on myself.) |
And in usual form, I had actually bought three pounds of potatoes and only needed two, so I sliced them all and froze the rest for another day.
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| I think I'm now officially obsessed with freezing. |
Not much beats comfort food. Warm, gooey, stick to your ribs. The potatoes au gratin went perfectly with the pork loin as I predicted and the four of us nearly finished off the entire pan that night! Sheer will power was the only thing that stopped us from being out of control. I'm so glad that I finally got around to making these as I've always wanted to do it. Plus, using the mandolin was fun and provided perfect results. Hope you get to slicing soon!
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