This is just the just the ticket for a cold, dreary night. We had it as a side dish with a spluttering platter of Italian sausage, along with a glass of rough peasant wine and a crusty baguette. And yes, we did have a green salad, too.
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away I lived in London for a post-grad year with another Washington College alum. We had been invited to a posh Christmas dinner and were responsible for bringing a dish to share. Our assignment: scalloped potatoes. We were kitchen novices. Our spaghetti sauce sent potential suitors running from our flat – we thought chopped onions were an excellent thickener for the runny tomato sauce. Knowing our limitations, and this being the antediluvian days before the Internet, we set off to the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea’s library in search of a cookbook.
We brought the weighty Mrs. Beeton’s Book of Cookery and Household Management back to our flat. Mrs. Beeton’s book, unlike Nigella Lawson’s or Ina Garten’s friendly and photo-heavy volumes, was complicated and bewildering to us. Illustrations? Few and far between. Breadcrumbs? Bechamel sauce? Ounces instead of cups? And the cooking times were distressingly vague, too. 1 1/2 to 2 hours? That could make the difference between potatoes that were half raw, to a dishful of cinders!
After thumbing through the book we came to realize that Mrs. Beeton didn’t have a handy dandy recipe for Scalloped Potatoes. We were being left to our own devices. Young women who thought onions were the salvation for watery spaghetti sauce have no business trying to invent scalloped potatoes. We didn’t even have a potato peeler! We peeled the potatoes as if they were apples, hacked them into hunks, covered them with chunks of some processed cheese and milk and shoved them all in the oven. Our scalloped potatoes were a lumpy sloshing mess.
We somehow transported the now-cooled baking dish (where did we ever find that?) on our knees on the Tube ride to Chiswick. We warmed them up, which did nothing to improve their movie star good looks. These sad-looking potatoes were inedible. We were not sure of the etiquette for this situation – but the dodgey nature of the potatoes was obvious. The dish was untouched by the discerning Brits who were suspicious of anything American. Particularly loud young American women who perhaps drank a little too much of the Beaujolais Nouveau… Our hearts were in the right place, though, and we helped with the washing up, before retiring to drink port and smoke cigars with the former RAF pilots who were telling the best stories we had ever heard. But I digress.
Full disclosure: We do not own an oval gratin pan. I used a round Pyrex pie dish. We do have a mandoline, which makes lovely uniform slices. And I have yet to slice off the tips of my fingers.
The garlic is a lovely, unexpected flavor with the creamy potatoes. An excellent idea, thanks Merrill. Merrill Stubbs of Food52 is responsible for this recipe. And the layers of grated Gruyere melted in a divine fashion; the cheese was evident in every bite. The RAF chaps would have enjoyed these potatoes.
https://food52.com/recipes/11595-pommes-dauphinoise-potatoes-au-gratin
• 1 1/2 cup milk
• 2 garlic cloves
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes
• 2 cups grated Gruyere
• Salt and pepper
1. Heat the oven to 425 degrees. Put the milk in a small heavy saucepan and peel and smash one of the garlic cloves. Add it to the pot and then heat the milk gently until it starts to bubble at the edges. Remove from the heat and let steep while you continue with the recipe.
2. Peel the second garlic clove, cut it in half and rub the cut side around the inside of an oval gratin dish about 9 inches long and 2 inches deep. Rub 1 tablespoon of the butter over the inside of the baking dish.
3. Peel the potatoes and cut them into 1/8-inch-thick slices (I use a mandoline to get them nice and even), laying the slices on a kitchen towel to drain. Layer about a third of the potatoes in the bottom of the baking dish, fanning them into concentric, overlapping circles. Season the potatoes with salt and pepper and sprinkle a third of the cheese over them. Repeat with two more layers of potatoes, salt and pepper and cheese, making the top layer as neat and tidy as you can.
4. Remove the garlic clove from the hot milk and pour the milk evenly over the potatoes. Dot the top of the potatoes with the remaining tablespoon of butter and bake the gratin for about 30 minutes, until it’s browned and bubbly. Let the potatoes cool for 5 minutes before serving.
Here’s another version that uses Cheddar cheese and breadcrumbs:
https://southernfood.about.com/od/potatocasserolerecipes/r/bl30119t.htm
https://www.closetcooking.com/2009/02/potato-au-gratin.html
“What I say is that, if a fellow really likes potatoes, he must be pretty decent sort of fellow.
-A.A. Milne
Isabella Beeton
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