An Indulgent Potato Dish
- Apr 13, 2020
- David Wilhelm
Gratin Dauphinois
I have been serving this incredibly indulgent potato dish for years, starting back when I first started cooking for my friends at home. It was long before I opened my first restaurant and, even years later when I launched French 75, it quickly became a signature side dish.
It’s a classic French potato gratin that I have adopted to my own taste and truly one that has to be considered French ‘comfort food.’
The ingredients are simple and few and it can be made ahead and held covered for some time until serving. In fact, it really should rest, covered for 30 minutes before serving so the potatoes can soak up all the garlic cream goodness.
This is a very rich dish and not one that you could eat very often but when it calls for a special side dish, nothing is better with a steak or chop than this beauty.
Gratin Dauphinois
Serves 8
Ingredients
- 4 Each Baking or Yukon Gold potatoes
- 2 cloves Garlic, peeled, minced
- 3 ounces Gruyere cheese, grated
- 1-1/2 cup plus Heavy cream
- As needed Salt & white pepper
- 1 TBS Butter
- 1 tsp Chopped Chives
STEP 1
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly butter the bottom and sides of a round glass pie pan. Sprinkle ½ teaspoon of the garlic around the plate. If using baking potatoes, you will want to work quickly so have all your other ingredients ready to go as they will discolor quite quickly… Not so much with Yukons. Peel potatoes and slice using food processor or mandolin.
STEP 2
Fan slices or potatoes around bottom of the pan overlapping slightly to cover the pan. Light sprinkle with salt & pepper, ½ teaspoon of garlic and about 1 ounce of the cheese around potatoes. Repeat this process until layers reach the top of the plate.
STEP 3
Slowly pour cream over potatoes until the level of the cream rises just below the top of the pan. Cut butter into small pieces and sprinkle on top of pie. Place pie on baking sheet and bake approximately 45 minutes or until a sharp knife easily pierces the potatoes all the way to the bottom of the pan.
STEP 4
Cover and hold at room temperature. Garnish with chopped chives just before serving.
