Gratin Dauphinois

So I've spent a lot of time thinking about what my first real post should be and I have decided it must be my all time favorite recipe, gratin dauphiniois. This dish originates in the southeastern region of France known as Dauphiné and is a variant of the famous French dish potatoes gratiné. Once you eat this dish you'll never want to eat potatoes any other way again!

You must use Russet potatoes (or another baking potato), waxy potatoes like the Yukon Gold will not work for this recipe. The use of a mandoline is also critical, as the potatoes must be consistently 1/8 of an inch thick to obtain the correct consistency.

Serves 4 (as a side dish).

Specialty equipment needed: Mandoline that can cut 1/8-inch slices.

Ingredients:
4 tablespoons of unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 large russet potatoes
1 cup of milk
1 large garlic clove, peeled and lightly crushed
1 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of freshly grated pepper (preferably white if you have it)
1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg (freshly grated if possible)
1 1/2 cups of heavy cream.

Preheat oven to 425 F (218 C) and butter a 9 by 13 baking dish using 1 tablespoon of butter.

Combine the milk, garlic clove, nutmeg, salt, and pepper in a small pot and bring to a boil. Once it begins to boil remove from the heat and set aside.

Preparing the potatoes: Peel the potatoes, rinse under cold water, and pat dry with paper towels; using the mandolin slice the potatoes 1/8 of an inch thick; arrange the potatoes in the baking dish in overlapping layers, discarding the small pieces. You will have left over potato, do not cram them in the baking dish.

Return the milk to the heat and bring back to a boil. Once the milk is boiling, discard the garlic and pour the milk over the potatoes. Bake covered with foil for 15 minutes. In the meantime, bring the heavy cream to a boil and remove from the heat. Bring back to a boil when the potatoes come out of the oven.

After the 15 minutes is up, remove the potatoes from the oven, cover with heavy cream and dot with the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter. Bake uncovered for 25 minutes.

I often serve this with braised short ribs but it goes well with any meat dish. This recipe is adapted from one found in Jeffrey Steingarten's It Must've Been Something I Ate. By the way, Jeffrey Steingarten's books are brilliant and must reads for foodies.

Bon appetit!