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Mar 29, 2024

Getting Around

Potatoes Au Gratin

This recipe comes from Chuck Platten. It's a little more work than you would expect if you are used to boxed potatoes au gratin, but give these a try. You'll never go back to boxed. If you want a simpler casserole like dish, maybe you'd prefer Scalloped Potatoes.

My recipe for Au Gratin is quite simple but it rocks.

  1. Rub butter over the surface of your favorite ceramic cooking vessel. I like to use small ones for individual portions, but any size works. #Slice 3 medium russet potatoes about an 1/8 of an inch thick, (put in water until use to prevent oxidation).
  2. Heat 1 ½ cups of good heavy cream in a saucepan with a couple of cloves of finely diced garlic, a sprig of fresh thyme, leaves only chop fine, leave out the woody part of the stem, and ¼ teaspoon of fresh ground nutmeg.
  3. Buy or grate (not shredded!) a 1 1/3 of good parmesan cheese. #Preheat the oven to about 400.
  4. When the cream mixture is just below a simmer, remove from heat. Put a splash of the cream in the bottom of your ceramic cooking vessel(s) then a single layer of potatoes slightly overlapping, as to be “scalloped”. Sprinkle with some of the parmesan, then another splash of the cream mixture, and repeat until all ingredients are used, reserving only about a 1/3 cup of the parmesan.
  5. It goes in the oven for about 50 minutes, but cooking time will vary due to bulk and how you layer within your cooking vessel(s). Individual ceramic dishes will cook quicker for instance.
  6. When potatoes are fork-tender, take the reserved parmesan and sprinkle a healthy portion across the top of potatoes, and return to the oven, but resetting it to broil, and move potatoes within three or four inches of the broiler element/flame. Don’t walk away, as soon as you get the nice brown crusty cheese, they're done. They go from done to burnt very quickly.

These are probably some of the best potatoes you’ll wrap your lips around.