11th hour need for a good potato recipe for a small dinner party. I just want to avoid ending up with hard potato slices. A local restaurant makes a delicious version, but they don’t sell to go dishes, and it would be ridiculously expensive anyway.
Ina Garten’s recipe, is to die for! If you don’t like fennel, omit it; you can add in such things as diced ham, tomato etc, for something a bit different, or if I’m feeling lazy, which is often, I’ll get the ready shredded potato from the frozen section at Tradjer Joe, more like a hash brown gratin, lol!
This one works every time. The trick is always to cut the potatoes thin. I use a mandolin.
https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1013511-potato-leek-gratin
Great tip for using a mandoline slicer. I have a Bed Bath and Beyond coupon, so off to the store.
Agree with others that slicing the potatoes thin with a mandolin is the key.
I’m thinking 1/8" thick?
When slicing the potatoes so thin, would it be acceptable to leave skins on, or is that au gratin blasphemy?
Blasphemy. I love potato skins, fried, roasted, baked. But au gratin? No. In my opinion
No skins! I second that Ina Garten’s recipe recommended above.
Gratin dauphinoise, yes thin potatoes. I used to use 1mm blade on cuisinart food processor. No cheese. Cook in milk or cream. Layer the slices on a gratin dish, pour milk or cream to cover salt and pepper and bake. Cream makes it richer but hard to digest. If you like garlic, put a little in the middle. I soaked the slices in milk/cream before layering on the dish to prevent them from sticking together. It’s the best.
If you have a food processor with an adjustable blade, you can use that rather than buying a mandolin if you’re in a pinch. Yes, you have to peel, and yes, 1/8 inch is about right. I love the old Laurel’s Kitchen recipe, which uses buttermilk instead of cream. It gives a nice tang without requiring any cheese. But for a really decadent gratin, nothing beats cream, garlic, gruyere and a sprinkle of nutmeg. Also, don’t skimp on the salt. Most Americans use too little in their cooking and eat too much in processed foods.
Thanks for all of the helpful advice! I love a good cream base, but this is Texas, so gotta have browned and bubbly cheese on top too (the “gratin” part of the recipe-otherwise I believe they are called scalloped potatoes).Gruyere sounds perfect. D2 is bringing some of her law school friends for dinner. They are all starving grad students, so we are splurging with Filet mignon Oscar style, roasted asparagus, potatoes and fresh strawberries for dessert. Will be a rich meal, but they are young and no one has any special dietary considerations.
Don’t have a food processor (D2 the chef absconded with mine), so I went ahead and bought the mandoline slicer. It will come in handy plenty of other times, I’m sure.
Your menu sounds delish…do let us know how it went!
^^^^Will do.
No skins it is!
@Massmomm, a couple of the recipes I consulted mentioned nutmeg as a particularly wonderful addition.
The Ina Garten recipe:
https://abc.go.com/shows/the-chew/recipes/potato-fennel-gratin-ina-garten
Yes to slicing thin. I often do it by hand or use my food processor.
I don’t have a recipe but here is what I do:
Thinly sliced, peeled potatoes
heavy cream
shredded gruyere cheese
salt and pepper
flour
garlic clove
small amount of butter
Rub baking dish with a cut clove of garlic.
Rub baking dish with butter.
Layers - keep repeating:
Place a layer of potatoes in the dish.
Sprinkle salt and pepper on top.
Using a sifter or small mesh strainer, sift a very small sprinkle of flour on top. (helps thicken the sauce while baking)
Sprinkle some gruyere on top.
Keep repeating the layers until the pan is close to full but leave some room so it doesn’t overflow when baking.
Pour cream on top until at least halfway up the potatoes but not up to the top or it will bubble over.
Sprinkle a final layer on top.
Bake at 350 (or 325 or 375 - it’s flexible) until baked through. Longer is better in my opinion. At least 1 hr probably closer to 1.5 and even 2 works on a lower setting. You can put a baking sheet lined with foil on the lower rack to catch any drips if it bubbles over. Let rest for about 10 minutes before serving. Potatoes are easy to keep warm to hold if needed.
Very easy and adaptable.
@Nrdsb4 Believe me you will have brown top. The taste will be so delicate that it’s like champagne vs wine.
Well, I ended up combining several of the recipes because I misjudged how long it would take me to get the dish oven ready.
I decided to forgo the fennel since I’ve never eaten it before and didn’t want to go with something so unfamiliar with company coming. I sent DH to Whole Foods with the plan to make @lololu’s Potato Leek recipe, but that kind of went awry. DH came back with no leeks and said they had no shredded Gruyerere, so he bought white cheddar. Time got away from me, and I realized I had to hurry and throw the dish together in order to get it into the oven. I didn’t have time to sautee anything, so I basically did @doschicos’ recipe using unit measurements from @momo2x2018’s Ina Garten recipe and layered sliced uncooked onions instead of sauteed onions as per the Potato Leek recipe. I also combined the white cheddar with regular medium cheddar and layered it liberally. I did dust flour per doschicos for each layer and cooked it at 375 for 45 minutes, then increased to 400 degrees because I was worried about getting dinner on the table too late.
It turned out great and most everyone had seconds. Everything else went well and we all had a very good time.
Thanks to everyone who posted!
Oh, and I agree about the Mandoline slicer! It sure saved a lot of time and effort.
“they had no shredded Gruyerere”
I’ve never seen shredded gruyere. You need to shred it yourself but it is worth it. Food processor comes in handy for that. In fact, I never buy pre-shredded cheese because they coat it with stuff that isn’t cheese.
Glad it came out well! Potatoes au Gratin is pretty forgiving as long as you cook it long enough. Hard to beat potatoes, cream, and cheese. 
Sounds like a delicious menu.