Amongst all my potato-theme exploration, the one recipe I've found myself returning to over and over again was the classic potato gratin. Served warm out of the oven, every bite is packed with soft, creamy cheesy potato slices. It's the ideal comfort food. For the occasional gathering, it's also easy to scale up the recipe to cook in mass quantities. What more could one ask for?
My ideal potato gratin has a creamy (but not runny!) interior, a nicely browned and textured exterior, and a generous crust-to-interior ratio. In this recipe, the proportions are ideal for an inch-deep, 8-inches wide potato gratin. When I doubled the recipe (in the first photo), I like to cap the gratin to 1-inch depth and use an additional pan instead, just so there's more of those elusive crust to go around.
Out of several recipes that I'd tried, Elisabeth Prueitt's version takes the cake. The touch of onion gives the dish a spicy kick, and despite using half-and-half, the cheese sauce was just as rich as the other full-cream recipes.
Traditional potato gratins are usually cooked in the oven from start to end, but this modern version first cooks the gratin over a stove-top fire, which streamlines the rest of the process and make the recipe fuss-free. As the cream sauce would have already cooked and thickened before gratin enters the oven, there's no fear of it boiling over the pan and spilling over in the oven. Also, depending on the type of cheese you use, the saltiness of the dish can differ heavily. This way, simmering the ingredients together first lets you do a quick taste-test to adjust the seasoning before popping it into the oven to finish cooking.
Potato Gratin Tartare Bakery
Adapted from the recipe by Liz Prueitt in Tartine All Day
Makes 2-3 servings
Ingredients
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1 tablespoon butter
1 small onion or leek, thinly sliced crosswise
1 small onion or leek, thinly sliced crosswise
3 cloves garlic, minced
500g (About 5-6 whole potato) russet potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
200ml whole milk
40ml heavy cream
Large pinch of ground nutmeg (optional but traditional)
1/2 tsp sea salt
100g firm cow's milk cheese, grated (such as Gruyère, Tomme de Savoie, or Comté. I used Parmesan)
INSTRUCTIONS
=======
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C.
2. Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the leek or onion and garlic. Cook, stirring often, until tender but not yet browned, about 3 minutes.
3. Add the potatoes, milk, cream, garlic, nutmeg, and salt to the pot with the cooked leek or onion and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Once at a boil, decrease the heat to medium and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring continuously. The starch in the potatoes will begin to thicken the milk and cream. Don't keep the cream over the heat for too long, or the cream will overcook and get grainy. Turn off the heat and stir in the hard cheese. Taste the liquid and season with more salt, if necessary (depending on the saltiness of the cheese). Transfer the potato mixture to the gratin dish and level the surface.
4. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the cheese on top is nicely browned and bubbling. It may help to bring the potato gratin to as close to the top coil as possible, and turn off the bottom coil, which would help get the top browned at the end.
5. If baking the gratin from the refrigerator or freezer, let it come to room temperature first and then bake. Let cool slightly before serving.
Note:
If making the gratin ahead, be aware that potatoes will soak up any residual liquid (the same holds for mashed potatoes). To make ahead, use 1/2 cup more liquid than when you serve it straight out of the oven. At step 4 (before baking), the unbaked gratin can be covered and refrigerated for up to 2 days or tightly wrapped and frozen for up to 3 months.)
500g (About 5-6 whole potato) russet potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
200ml whole milk
40ml heavy cream
Large pinch of ground nutmeg (optional but traditional)
1/2 tsp sea salt
100g firm cow's milk cheese, grated (such as Gruyère, Tomme de Savoie, or Comté. I used Parmesan)
INSTRUCTIONS
=======
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C.
2. Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the leek or onion and garlic. Cook, stirring often, until tender but not yet browned, about 3 minutes.
3. Add the potatoes, milk, cream, garlic, nutmeg, and salt to the pot with the cooked leek or onion and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Once at a boil, decrease the heat to medium and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring continuously. The starch in the potatoes will begin to thicken the milk and cream. Don't keep the cream over the heat for too long, or the cream will overcook and get grainy. Turn off the heat and stir in the hard cheese. Taste the liquid and season with more salt, if necessary (depending on the saltiness of the cheese). Transfer the potato mixture to the gratin dish and level the surface.
4. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the cheese on top is nicely browned and bubbling. It may help to bring the potato gratin to as close to the top coil as possible, and turn off the bottom coil, which would help get the top browned at the end.
5. If baking the gratin from the refrigerator or freezer, let it come to room temperature first and then bake. Let cool slightly before serving.
Note:
If making the gratin ahead, be aware that potatoes will soak up any residual liquid (the same holds for mashed potatoes). To make ahead, use 1/2 cup more liquid than when you serve it straight out of the oven. At step 4 (before baking), the unbaked gratin can be covered and refrigerated for up to 2 days or tightly wrapped and frozen for up to 3 months.)
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