Scalloped Potato Gratin

There was a Jacques Pepin marathon today on TV and I watched it. All day. In between I did manage to clean the house a bit, tickle my toddler Mimi and swing her around in circles until she was dizzy, made Emmett laugh hysterically, relaxed with my husband, and of course did some blogging. I love being home with my family. Anyway, I watched him make a ton of different dishes and was eventually inspired to make gratin to go with our steak dinner tonight. In a perfect world, where money grew on trees, I would make my gratin in a copper pan, the way Jacques does....
Wait, let's drool at it together....



Ok, enough drooling now.

The gratin was amazing. Creamy, flavorful, but not over-powering. Don't skimp on the salt though or the flavor will fall flat. You can add garlic if you want, or a different type of cheese.... I think almost anything goes. I've made gratin a million times and it's never been bad. How could it be? It's heavy cream and potatoes. You can't go wrong. :)

Layer the potatoes, cream and cheese

The top layer

Remove and add some cheese, broil

Scalloped Potato Gratin
Adapted From
Serving Size = 4-6

• About 6 large russet potatoes (2 lbs), peeled and cut 1/8-inch thick (I did this by hand, only takes a few minutes)
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream (maybe 1/4 cup more or less)
• Salt/pepper
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/8 teaspoon or so of freshly ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• Freshly grated Parmesan, roughly 1 cup (to taste)

1. Preheat oven to 375F.
2. In a medium or small saucepan add the heavy cream, salt, pepper, bay leaves, nutmeg and thyme. Over medium heat, cook it until it comes to a simmer. Cook for a minute, then set aside.
3. Butter a gratin/casserole dish, I used a 2 quart oval baker roughly 10inx7in, 3in high. Add 1 layer of potatoes, pour over 1/3 of the cream, sprinkle on some Parmesan, sprinkle on a bit of salt, add another layer of potatoes, 1/3 cream, more Parmesan and salt, and finally add the 3rd layer of potatoes and pour over the rest of the cream. Season with a touch of salt. (I used about 1/2 cup Parmesan total). The cream will be roughly a 1/2 inch below the top layer of potatoes, add more cream if it's too dry.
4. Bake for 50 minutes. Remove and add Parmesan on top, to taste (I probably added 1/2 cup roughly). Place under the broiler until cheese melts and browns a bit. (You might want to put a baking sheet under it to keep from making a mess)
5. Note: If you've only made gratin in a box, keep in mind that boxed gratin tends to be dry. Real gratin should have a good amount of cream.

Linking to: Whole Food Wednesday