Triumphant Return with… More Potatoes

Yes, dear reader, I’m back. It’s been an interesting month. You’ll hear all about it in the next few posts, which consist not only of the recipe for Gratin Dauphinoise (finally, Dylan, like I promised), but with stories from Mexico, Toronto, back home in New York, and Paris.

The Canadian’s back, and I can’t help smiling. I made him a huge batch of chili before I left, because he would be arriving in three days to spend three long weeks here alone. It lasted precisely 14 hours. Needless to say, he learned to survive on his own, and I have the pleasure of being cooked for every once in awhile, which is always nice. His favorite thing to make me is stir fry, but yesterday while I was napping off the jet lag from New York, he went out and got me sushi so I would have something waiting when I got home.

OK, enough of this mushy stuff. Back to the food. Or should I say, the potatoes that cause swooning. I had to make two of these casseroles when my mother’s family came for Christmas, and they were devoured alongside the crown roast of pork that my mother prepared for Christmas Eve dinner (yeah, I know, you’re not supposed to have meat on Christmas Eve. I’ve always loved the idea of doing a traditional Italian fish supper for Christmas, and you can bet that when I’m running the holiday, it will be nothing but Zuppa di Pesce and Bacala, but while my mother runs the show, her word is law.)

All this meandering brings me back to the point: my potatoes. This gratin was the first thing I ever invented successfully, and now it’s a staple around the holidays. That being said, it is a staple only around the holidays precisely because you don’t need “cheese with a couple of potatoes thrown in,” as my uncle calls it, every day of the week. Regardless, it’s delicious, and you’re lucky, because if any of my family was web savvy enough to read a blog, this recipe would not be up here: I can’t have my Christmas cooking participation rendered obsolete!

Gratin Dauphinoise

5 large yukon gold potatoes

3 cups of grated cheese (I use a combination of gruyere and emmental)

1 egg

1 cup each whole milk and heavy cream

nutmeg, salt and pepper

Grease a glass baking dish with butter or oil, and then place one layer of thinly sliced potatoes along the bottom. Sprinkle salt, pepper and nutmeg over the potato layer, and top with a layer of grated cheese. Follow with another layer of potatoes, this time sprinkling the layer just with black pepper. Continue alternating layers until you reach the last layer of potatoes. Reserve some of the cheese for the top of the gratin. Sprinkle salt, pepper and nutmeg over the top layer of potatoes. Set aside. In a saucepan, heat the cream and milk together until hot but not boiling, and add another sprinkle of nutmeg. Temper the liquid with the egg, and pour the entire contents of the pan over the gratin. Top the gratin with the reserved cheese. Cover with aluminum and bake at 350 F until the potatoes are soft, about half an hour. Remove foil and turn up the oven to 425. Bake until topping is golden brown. Cool slightly before serving. Note: recipe can be prepared and baked at 350 and the last step can be reserved until just before serving.