Dauphinoise (Potatoes au Gratin)
Don't skimp on the cream! The secret to heavenly creamy potatoes.
Ingredients
- 2½ lbs Yukon Gold, thinly sliced, about 1/8 inch thick This is typically one half a bag of potatoes
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 cups Grated Gruyère cheese (or Jarlsberg, Emmental, or Fontina)
Cream Sauce
- 1 Small garlic clove, pressed
- 3 cups Heavy cream (or 2 cups heavy cream and 1 cup Whole milk)
- 2 tbsp Butter, melted plus more for greasing the dish
- 5 sprigs Fresh Thyme
- Freshly ground nutmeg
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Butter a casserole or deep dish pie pan. Slice the potatoes into about 1/8" slices. A mandolin works great for this.
- Grate the cheese. Gruyère is much preferred but can be substituted with Jarlsberg, Emmental or Fontina.
- In a small sauce pan, melt the butter and pour in the cream. Press a small garlic clove into the cream. Add thyme sprigs, a few grinds of nutmeg, and a large pinch of salt.
- Warm the cream over low heat and gently simmer for 10 minutes. Take the pan off the heat and remove the thyme sprigs.
- Lay a single layer of sliced potatoes in the baking dish. Sprinkle with a small pinch of salt and a grind of fresh pepper. Pour on a cup of the sauce and sprinkle with a good handful of cheese, just under a cup. Continue layering the potatoes, cream and cheese until you have almost filled the dish. (you may have left over potato slices) Pour the rest of the cream over the potatoes and sprinkle the top with the remaining cheese.
- Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake for 1 1/2 hours. I enclosed the entire dish in a "bowl" of aluminum foil to prevent boiling over into my galley oven, And I am sure glad I did. You might want to consider that.
- Remove the foil and continue baking until the top is bubbling and browned, 25 to 35 minutes longer, depending on the size of your dish. You may want to light your broiler for better browning.
- A fork should easily pierce the potatoes when done. Let stand for 15 minutes before serving.
Notes
