COOKING ACCESSORIES

• Oven dish (approx. 2 litres)

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cloves of garlic
• 25 grams butter
• 1 kg firm texture potatoes
• 125 ml whipping cream
• 125 ml full-fat milk
• freshly ground black pepper
• (freshly grated) nutmeg
• 50 grams grated Gruyère (cheese)

METHOD OF PREPARATION

• Pre-heat the oven to 175°C.
• Peel and halve the garlic.
• Rub the oven dish generously with the cut garlic sections and then use half of the butter to grease the dish.
• Peel and rinse off the potatoes, then cut or shred them into thin slices.
• Mix the whipping cream and the milk in a large bowl.
• Season the mixture with 1 teaspoon of salt, some pepper and nutmeg.
• Add the potato slices and gently fold them into the mixture until all of the slices are covered with cream.
• Use a skimmer to put the potato slices in the oven dish and smoothen the top.
• Pour the rest of the cream mixture on top.
• Sprinkle the cheese onto the potatoes and divide the rest of the butter on top as well.
• Place the dish in the middle of the oven on the grid and bake the gratin for 40 to 50 minutes until golden brown.

TIP

Potato gratin is at its best when served immediately after baking. You can prepare the gratin one day in advance, if desired. Bake the gratin without the cheese for 30 minutes, so that the potatoes are almost done. Cover and refrigerate. Let the gratin reach room temperature and then sprinkle on the cheese. Bake the gratin in the oven (200°C) for 15-20 minutes until golden brown.

TIPS FOR VARIATIONS

Three variations on the traditional potato gratin:

Nice and light: Potato gratin is quite filling. For a lighter version, use semi-skimmed milk with light cream and substitute half of the potato slices with 1 thinly sliced courgette. Lightly grease the oven dish and fill with alternate layers of potato and courgette. Top off the dish with thin slices of mozzarella cheese.

Garlic gratin with no cream: Scrub 750 grams of unpeeled (red skin) potatoes well and cut them into thin slices. Crush 2 cloves of garlic over a bowl and stir in 5 tablespoons of olive oil and 1 tablespoon of fresh thyme leaves. Stir in the potato slices and then spoon the mixture into a low oven dish. Also pour on the remaining oil in the bowl. Cover with aluminium foil and bake the gratin for 20 minutes, then bake another 20-30 minutes without the foil.

With spring onion and blue cheese: Prepare the potato gratin according to the basic recipe, only beat 2 eggs into the cream mixture and season well with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Crumble 150 grams of blue cheese (Roquefort or Danish blue, for example) and mix through the cream mixture together with 3 spring onions, cut in thin rings, and the potato slices. Divide half of the mixture over the bottom of the oven dish and sprinkle on half of the crumbled cheese. Repeat to make a second layer. Bake the gratin until golden brown and then allow to rest in the oven for 10-15 minutes. The gratin can be cut into squares or cut as you would slice a pizza.