Saturday, March 14, 2009

Gratin Dauphinois


Gratin Dauphinois is a basic thing. So basic, in fact, that I can't imagine any reason why people would eat the boxed shit. The garbage dehydrated crap isn't even cheaper. Okay, I'll admit that it is marginally easier to open a box and a couple bags, but you end up having to boil water and milk to pour over the dehydrated potatoes anyway, when you could just slice a couple of real potatoes on your mandoline (or in the processor), dump them in a glass bowl and microwave them in the milk. Then all you do is dump the whole lot into a buttered casserole with a slice garlic clove, top it with cheese, and whack it into the oven for an hour. Easy peasy.

I used 50-50 milk and half & half (so I guess it was 75% milk, and 25% cream), a few pinches of salt and some pepper, and a few scratches of nutmeg. I topped it with the last of the Madrigal cheese and tented some foil over the whole pan to keep the cheese from browning too early.

Serve with a medium-rare ribeye (grilled with only crunchy salt and cracked pepper) and a bitchy red (I like 2006 Three Winds Syrah these days - a little brash and ign'unt, but she calms down if you give her some space. Plus, the label looks like a Kurosawa movie poster).

26 comments:

Dewi said...

Heather my dear, this is the most delightful potato dish ever, and it s also happen to be my family favorite .
Cheers,
elra

Nathan Crook said...

Another downside to the nasty dehydrated, boxed crap is the gastric distress that always accompanies dehydrated onions, potatoes, etc. Think, White Castle and the horrible, horrible side effects of sliders.

NC

Brittany said...

Watching yojimbo and eating a potato gratin. Two things I now would like to do tonight, on this delightfully disgusting rainy evening.

Syd said...

Oh, dear GOD...cream, potatoes, and beef. I need a moment...

Anonymous said...

Get your cholesterol on girlfriend. I'm with Syd. Be right back...

bb said...

Potato gratin....another reason to put up with the French...oh, and their wine, cheese, Paris, shoes, etc. One of my favorite things to make at home too. And that Three Winds syrah...not only ign'unt...but cheap!

Susan @ SGCC said...

I could wallow in a dish like this for days - and I have! It's fabulous!

Manggy said...

Ooch. I gotta confess the boxed stuff had pictures on the front so appealing that I've been tempted to buy one :P Only made potato gratin once, though!

michael, claudia and sierra said...

baby baby baby...

what could be more amazing? but it's funny how i rarely if ever make potatoes.

this would be a perfect sunday dinner. starve all day and eat early. (you know how i am...)

Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...

I would walk 100 miles, and I would walk 100 more just for this potato dish:D

Brooke said...

T'aint nothing like creamy potatoes topped with crunchy browned cheese. Unless you pair it with a steak....oh God.

I make a potato/beet version that's pretty damn fine too. And it comes out kinda pink.

Anonymous said...

i love dauphinois potatoes - jonny makes a pretty mean version. this looks rich and nice and fattening. the way i like it.

since i guess it's technically still winter, bring on the cold-weather dishes!

but, i'm secretly praying for peashoots, nettles, basil dishes etc. to be blogged about. i'm SO friggin over this winter.

Heather said...

Elra - It would definitely be a an easy way to get kids to eat vegetables!

Nathan - Yeah, the dehydrated chicken fat and cheese powder doesn't really make my tummy happy.

Brittany - We watched Sukiyaki Western Django on Friday night. Favoritest Miike film yet, imo.

Syd - I love how easy you are to please.

KPH - A little milkfat never hurt anybody! At least I didn't add eggs. :P

Bruce - I actually tried to find a link to your place for the wine, but couldn't. It is definitely a bargain at $10 (it got an 88 from WS!).

Susan - If only I could have a bathtub of this gratin.

Marky - When I was a broke college student I used to get the box, and would eat the whole thing with corn. I'd say "I'm having yellow for dinner."

Claudia - All it needs is some creamed spinach.

Valli - That's a lot of walking. I assure you, you needn't walk 200 miles for a gratin.

Brookie - Oh, a pink gratin sounds lovely. I'd eat a lot of that - beets are one of my favorite vegetables.

Amy - TELL ME ABOUT IT. I'm getting ready to start picking nettles. I've got a patch of sunshine right now, actually...

Manger La Ville said...

I love making gratin. Your's looks amazing. Try it with a layer of sauteed leeks.

Anonymous said...

I have never seen a box of instant potato gratin or instant scalloped potatoes...and now I want to hunt one down and make it, purely out of morbid curiosity. Which is a mistake, I know. I KNOW. But sometimes you have to slow down to look at that car crash....

Anonymous said...

This looks soooo good! You're right that it's as easy and a helluva lot better than the boxed potatoes. That stuff's so terrible I can't believe people keep eating the shit.

Alicia Foodycat said...

You can get boxed dauph? Christ, that encapsulates what is wrong with modern society.

So are you in the "no garlic" camp for it?

Anonymous said...

For some reason I read the title as Gratuitous Dauphinois. Silly, silly brain.

MrOrph said...

I could never, I mean never, use boxed scalloped potatoes for anything except paper mache.

We love a good gratin. I made something similar on V-day with the Chateaubriand. Great pairing there I think.

Heather said...

Manger La Ville - Leeks, parsnips, kohlrabi, apples, fennel, I've done it all.

Tina - They're quite comical - dried potato chips and an envelope of flavor powder.

Shelly - Betty Crocker did good advertising in the 70s and now a generation of women have grown up thinking that that's cooking.

Alicia - Yeah, I bet it'd go great with a can of gin and tonic. I'm in the "garlic" camp, but not too much. One clove is ample.

Jess - Some might argue that a potato gratin is gratuitous with a steak.

Don - Beef and creamy potatoes are WIN.

CM said...

My mom used to whip out the boxed version of these to go with ham... I remember being so happy that I was allergic and couldn't have any.

Anonymous said...

Nothing to say but MMMM. The real thing is so much better.

Mike of Mike's Table said...

I could live off of dauphinois alone. The potatoes satiate the Irish in me, and the rest the lust for cream, cheese, and all things dairy. I want this now

Anonymous said...

Yes, seriously excellent food. It's nothing but potatoes cooked in butter with cheese on the top. Sounds rubbish, right? Wrong, so wrong (shakes head in despair).

I've blanked the part about eating the dehydrated convenience crap. I don't need that stuff in my life, and I don't need that image in my head.

Immense with a good sausage...

Anonymous said...

I try to avoid boxed anything, except maybe macaroni and cheese. Had no idea gratin dauphinois was this easy.. It sounds so damn intimidating.

Peter M said...

She's a beauty...I must remember to tent my "dauph" next time...good thinkin' kiddo!