Posted by johngl
Back in the old days, prior to the change in millenniums, the most glorious one had a recipe for a potato gratin that used beef or chicken stock and gruyere cheese rather than the usual cream. We loved the recipe and since it was hers and not mine I didn’t keep track of it.
Sadly, it managed to get lost, misplaced, shredded, or burned as a direct result of our move to Austin from the Great Midwest. We searched and searched to no avail. We tried improvising but always managed to get something with too much liquid (or not enough), stringy cheese, or potatoes that slithered around rather than stick together.
I am happy to report that those days are gone thanks to Cooks Illustrated and their index.
Sadly, I don’t have much of a picture of the finished product other than this blurry thing. This came from a pic where the potatoes were hidden behind the roast beast at the party the other night:
I do, however, have a couple of shots of what it looked like just before I put it in the oven:
Isn’t that cute? Check out that spiral of potato! The most glorious one outdid herself on this.
As I mentioned earlier, the basics from this recipe came from Cook’s Illustrated. However, I am not one to follow recipes, so this is a bit doctored. The all-important proportions did remain roughly the same. Here is my recipe:
8 oz gouda cheese, shredded (2 cups loose)
4 oz gruyere cheese, shredded (for topping)
4 medium garlic cloves, minces (1-1/2 tablespoons)
4 teaspoons minced fresh thyme
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup all purpose flour
3-1/2 cups chicken stock or beef stock (homemade)
1 bay leaf
4 lbs organic russet potatoes sliced about 1/8″ thick
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
bacon bits
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees, one rack lower center, one upper
2. Toss together gouda cheese, garlic, and thyme
3. Make roux with butter and flour (a light roux, about 3 minutes)
4. Add stock to roux with bay leaf. Bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer. Cook until thickened, set aside.
5. Lay out potatoes in layers, overlapping, with cheese/bacon bits in between (3 layers of potatoes). You will also need to apply a dose of salt and pepper to each layer.
Note: Use 4 oz of gouda, garlic, and thyme blend between the layers of potatoes
6. Add thickened stock, all of it.
7. Cook on lower shelf for 45 minutes tightly covered in foil
8. Uncover and cook for 45 more minutes.
9. After 45 minutes (step 8), the potatoes will have just started to brown. Remove from oven.
10. Apply top layer of gruyere/bacon bits. Return to oven and bake on top shelf until browned, about 10-12 minutes.
Additional notes:
I used organic Texas-grown russets. These are surprisingly good potatoes.
You don’t need many bacon bits. About a tablespoon per layer, if that. Just sprinkle them around a bit.
For the stock, I made my own. This one was made from the carcass of our Red Bourbon Thanksgiving turkey, one additional chicken carcass, and freshly made beef stock I made for the Bordelaise in a previous post. It was split half chicken/turkey and half beef.
Keep the foil on for the full 45 minutes. Then, make sure the foil is off for another 45 minutes. This latter session evaporates any excess liquids and firms things up. Don’t try and rush this dish!
Save some garlic and thyme for the gruyere topping. This browns up nicely in about 10-12 minutes on the top shelf.
I was taking this to a party, so I saved the final bake-off to do on location. After the 90 minutes were up, I placed the casserole, uncovered, in a cardboard box with wads of newsprint on the bottom and sides to keep it from sliding around. It stayed warm for several hours this way. To finish, I added that last layer of gruyere and baked it off on site.
I have put this one in my personal recipe files, just for safekeeping…
The best things in life should be shared!
Tags: potato
That looks AMAZING! Scalloped potatoes and I don’t get along! I’ve cooked scalloped potatoes for THREE hours once and they were still crunchy!
My mom comes over one time, I watch her eye ball the recipe – she basically just slices the potatoes and in between each layer sprinkles with flour, butter, salt and pepper and finishes the last layer with cheese. Then she just pours milk over top of everything until it covers the potatoes.
I tried the same method by myself, and my potatoes were still crunchy!
Hope you have a good weekend – we are finally celebrating Christmas tomorow!