Sunday, April 06, 2008

Potatoes.

Really yummy potato gratin last night - highly recommended, and pretty darn easy (if you've got a slicer).

Creamy Potato and Herb Gratin

Ingredients:
  • 3 tablespoons room temp butter
  • 2 1/2 to 3 lbs of russet potatoes
  • 1 cup whipping cream
  • 1 1/2 cup whole milk
  • 1/2 cup coarsely diced onion
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1 or 2 large sprigs fresh rosemary, coarsely chopped (about 1 heaping Tbs)
  • 1 large sprig fresh thyme, coarsely chopped (about 2 tsp)
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp freshly ground coarse black pepper
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 400F. Butter 11 x 7 in glass baking dish with 1 Tbs of butter.
Pour cream and milk into a large saucepan. Place onion, garlic, rosemary and thyme in workbowl of food processor. Process until onion is finely minced, and ingredients are well blended. Add onion mixture to milk and cream.
Peel potatoes, then slice on thinnest blade of mandoline or slicer(potato chip thickness). Add sliced potatoes immediately to cream mixture to prevent browning. Add one Tbs of butter, salt, and pepper to mixture, then bring to a boil over medium heat, carefully avoiding scorching and stirring gently from time to time.
Transfer to prepared baking dish, overlapping top layer in a pattern if desired (honestly, with boiling hot potatoes, I could not be bothered to do this step). Dot top with remaining Tbs butter. Cover dish with foil. Bake 40 minutes. Uncover and continue to bake until top is lightly browned, about 15-20 minutes additional. Potatoes should be very tender, and sauce thick and bubbly. Let stand about 10 minutes before serving.
These were lovely - more bite than mashed potatoes, but very lush and luxurious. An excellent side for yesterday's pork roast with garlic-mustard rub and buttered cabbage with poppy seeds.