by A.J. Coltrane
I’ve tried making Potatoes Au Gratin using the Joy of Cooking recipe many times. I’ve never been able to get it to come out “right” — it always comes out too “soupy” for my taste.
The picture above shows my latest go at it, using the Joy recipe as a jumping off point. (The dish tightened up quite a bit after a few minutes of cooling — the finished product had almost no “liquid.”)
Here are the two ingredient lists, side by side:
| Joy of Cooking | Coltrane’s Alternate |
| 1 Clove Garlic | 1 Clove Garlic |
| 1 TBP Butter | 1 TBP Butter |
| 2.5 lbs baking potatoes, peeled | 2 lbs “Red Skin Golden” potatoes, unpeeled |
| 3 cups milk or half-and-half | 2 cups half-and-half |
| 1 tsp salt | 1 tsp salt |
| 1/4 tsp pepper | 1/4 tsp pepper |
| pinch nutmeg | pinch nutmeg |
| Cheese, bread crumbs, and dots of butter to cover. | 1/2 cup shredded cheese |
The potatoes in the Alternate are Jolly Green Giant “Red Skin Golden Potatoes.” I think they’re just new red potatoes. I also left the skins on, because I didn’t feel like peeling smallish nubby potatoes. (Read: Didn’t feel like the extra work or throwing away nutrients.) It turns out that when the potatoes are sliced super thin the skins don’t have any substance left; peeling the potatoes isn’t really necessary. Besides, if anyone asks then the dish was intended to be “rustic.”
The recipe:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Halve garlic clove and rub on interior of baking dish. Rub the butter in the baking dish.
3. Combine potatoes, milk, nutmeg, salt, pepper, and milk or half-and-half in saucepan. Bring to simmer. Simmer until liquid reduces slightly, about 5 minutes.
4a. Joy recipe: Pour mixture into the baking dish, top with the cheese, butter, and/or breadcrumbs. (The butter and cheese are “optional.”) Bake until the top is golden and the potatoes are tender, 45 minutes to 1 hour.
4b. Alternate recipe: Pour half the mixture into the baking dish. Top with half of the cheese. Pour remaining mixture into the baking dish. Top with the remaining cheese. (This keeps the cheese from all sitting on top, as the Joy recipe calls for.) Bake until the potatoes are tender, 1 hour.
The cheese can be a combination of chedder, gruyere, and/or anything else that shreds well.
This is another recipe that the thin slicing disk on the kitchenaid is the Best. Thing. Evar. Total prep time was maybe 5 minutes, plus another 5 minutes of simmering the potatoes on the stove.
I’m guessing reintroducing the knobs of butter wouldn’t hurt the Alternate..
FlatbreadGarden 