Potato Gratin is the perfect side dish and ultimate comfort food.
It’s great for a crowd, easily made ahead of time and straight into the oven from the
fridge.
Welcome to recipes by Carina where I show you how to make classic and simply delicious
recipes, make sure to subscribe for a new video each week.
I also have a few other potato recipes, perfect creamy mashed potatoes and perfect crispy
roasted potatoes if you’re looking for something a little different.
The first thing we need to do here is wash the potatoes.
Im using pre washed so they just need a quick rinse.
If you aren’t using pre washed make sure to give them a good scrub.
I prefer to leave the skin on with this dish, it gives an extra layer of flavour, adds more
fibre, plus it’s so much easier but if you would prefer you can peel them.
I’m using about 1 and half kg or around 3 pounds or about 6 medium potatoes for this
dish.
While the potatoes are draining off we can get started on the creamy base sauce.
You can just mix this together and pour it over the potatoes but I definitely recommend
going to the extra effort to infuse.
In a small saucepan pour in your milk and cream.
You can use all milk here or all cream, but I’ve found a balance between the two works
perfectly.
It’s not too heavy but you still get the creaminess you want from this dish.
Add a good few pinches of salt, about 2 teaspoons worth.
Potatoes really need it.
Followed by freshly cracked black pepper.
This next part is pretty easy, you want about 6 cloves of garlic but we’re going to be
infusing the milk and cream so there’s no need to chop them up.
If instead you decide to just mix the ingredients together and pour over the potatoes make sure
to finely dice or crush your garlic and I would recommend only using about 3 cloves
so it’s not too over powering.
Cut off both ends and crush the garlic cloves with the back of your knife, peel the skin
off, it should come off easily here and place into the saucepan.
This dish makes enough for about 6-8 people I would say but it’s easily doubled, tripled
or even halved depending on how many people you are serving.
It makes great leftovers, just place the whole dish back into the oven for 20 minutes or
so to heat through.
Let me know in the comments below what your favourite ways to eat potatoes are, they are
one of the most versatile ingredients.
I would say mine would have to be perfect roasted potatoes, crispy on the outside and
soft, creamy and fluffy in the centre.
I’ll have my recipe for those linked below if you would like to see it.
Lastly we’re going to need a few stalks of thyme or you can use rosemary instead,
or a mixture of the two.
I just prefer the flavour of thyme.
Add that to the saucepan followed by a 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg.
Nutmeg has a wonderful earthy nutty flavour that works the best with white or cheese sauces
so if you don’t usually add it, make sure you start.
Place the saucepan over medium to low heat, bring it to a light simmer and give it a mix
with a spoon.
You don’t want to boil it, just lightly simmer for 10 to 15 minutes while we prep
the potatoes.
There’s easy ways and hard ways to do most things and when it comes to thinly slicing
potatoes the easy way is with a mandolin.
They’re all perfectly even and it takes about half of the time as using a knife.
I’m cutting the ends of the potatoes and using the largest setting on the mandolin
to slice them which is about half a centimetre or quarter of an inch wide.
If you don’t have a mandolin you can still do this with a knife but I would definitely
recommend getting one, this is handheld so it takes up far less space than a standing.
One of the most important tips I can give you for this dish is the type of potatoes
you are using.
There are two main differences with most potatoes, waxy and starchy.
For this dish and things like roasting, mashing and for fries you want a starchy potato.
Because of the higher level of starch these have the soft fluffy and creamy interior when
cooked which is exactly what you want.
Waxy potatoes are used in salads, stews, curries, or just for boiling.
They hold together much better and have a firmer texture.
If you’re not sure what kind the potatoes you have, take a quick look at the packaging
as they usually say.
Take each sliced potato and fan it out in a 20 by 30 or 9 by 13 baking dish.
You can layer these, placing them all flat but I prefer this way as it’s much easier
to serve plus each piece of potato has a crispy bit as well as a creamy base.
Continue until you have used all of your potatoes, pushing them closer together to fit everything
in.
If you are doubling or halving the recipe just remember to as use a smaller or larger
baking dish.
Using a slotted spoon, or you can strain the sauce, remove the thyme and garlic pieces.
The sauce should be extremely fragrant having taken on all of the flavour from the garlic.
Pour the hot infused milk and cream over the potatoes, it should come about half way up
the sides of the dish.
Place it uncovered in a 200 c 400 F oven for about 45 minutes of until the potatoes feel
tender when pierced with a fork.
After 45 minutes remove the dish from the oven, it should be bubbling and hot, the sauce
having reduced and thickened.
Grate 100g or about 3 ounces of gruyere cheese over the potatoes.
Gruyere is the traditional cheese for this dish it has nutty earthy flavour but if you
don’t have any or you have another type of cheese on hand it can be substituted.
Place the potato gratin back into the oven for about 15 minutes or until the cheese has
melted and is golden brown.
This makes the perfect side dish to any meal, and it’s usually a favourite with everyone.
Don’t forget to check out my mashed potato and roasted potato recipes, and subscribe
to my channel for new videos each week.
I hope you enjoyed this recipe, thank you for watching and I will see you in my next
video.