* Exported from MasterCook *

Potato Gratin With Mustard and Gruyere

Recipe By :
Serving Size : 6 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories :

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
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2 pounds potatoes -- peeled and sliced 1/8" thick
3/4 teaspoon dried dill weed
1 1/2 cups gruyere cheese -- 6 ounces
2/3 cup whipping cream
2/3 cup chicken broth
1/8 cup dijon mustard

Preheat oven to 400. Butter a Dutch oven and overlap potatoes in prepared dish in one layer. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with a little dill weed, and then cheese. Repeat layering twice, using potatoes, dill and cheese.

Whisk cream, stock and mustard in bowl. Pour over potatoes and bake until top is crusty and brown, about 45 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

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Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 331 Calories; 19g Fat (51.1% calories from fat); 13g Protein; 29g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 66mg Cholesterol; 257mg Sodium. Exchanges: 2 Grain(Starch); 1 Lean Meat; 0 Vegetable; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 3 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates.


Nutr. Assoc. : 0 0 0 0 0 0

Wow! I might have to rethink my menu. The mustardy potatoes will be great with beef. Thanks for being so generous with your recipes, Jane. We all appreciate it.

Are you using Yukon golds for this?

Rita

Thanks Jane - the mustard will be a fantastic addition.


Ray

You certainly can. I usually buy red skinned, and I slice them very thin with my 2mm blade in the Cuisinart. You can go to 3mm, but I like these thin, because you are making three layers in the Dutch oven. I made these for my family when we had a surprise party for my mom's 80th. There wasn't anything left. I've also made them for client's dinner parties, and they all rave.

The only thing I buy baking potatoes for is stuffed baked, and latkes, although I have used reds for latkes. Because the regular baking potatoes have more liquid in them, you get more starch when you drain the potatoes in a colander over a bowl. I never add flour to my latkes, I use the potato starch which settles in the drip bowl. I am the only one I know who does this method, it's what my grandmother did. In today's paper was a latke recipe from Joan Nathan. She also does this method.

It's a hard choice - color of the reds or the flavor of the golds.

I grew up with German potato pancakes, probably a little larger and slightly thicker than latkes...same animal. My mother always used the starch in the bowl too. She always added a little farina and it made the pancakes/latkes nice and crisp with a great texture. Apple sauce, a good sharp mustard, a light green salad with butter lettuce, and knackwurst or bratwurst completed the meal.

quote:

The only thing I buy baking potatoes for is stuffed baked, and latkes

Rita and Jane,

My wife and I prefer Yukon Gold for baking also. The flavor is so much better.

It's funny, because whether you are Jewish or not, each nationality has their version of basically the same things. Applesauce always accompanies latkes here.

Go with the Yukons and let me know how they turn out.

You're right. That goes for a lot of things. I made a Thai soup the other day and it was wonderful. Then I added avocado garnish and it became a Mexican soup.

I've been thinking that I might use half red and half Yukon and get the best of both. Baking time shouldn't vary much, if at all. Does the red actually show up in the gratin when you make it?

Rita

Report: Forget about any other potato gratin. This one is the best you'll find. And so easy. It barely served 6, although 6 is a good number of servings.

I mixed the dried dill weed with the liquids to give it a little time to rehydrate before assembling the gratin. I'll probably use fresh next time. Also, I used Yukon gold potatoes and their flavor was fabulous. The color of the interior of the casserole was light golden and buttery looking.

I baked the gratin covered for the first 20 minutes and uncovered the remaining time. Had to add 5 or 10 minutes to the total time, probably because the Corning casserole I used was a little deeper than your Dutch oven. To get 1/8-inch thick slices, use the Cuisinart's 4 mm slicing blade.

Thanks, Jane for a prize winner!

Rita

I made this yesterday for a dinner party for 15. I used my new 8qt. Calphalon that Doug recommended, and the thing was full. Maybe we should change the servings to 4? I used white pepper and red potatoes.

Jane, 6 normal servings is right on. Everyone went back for seconds. OD'd on the potatoes.

Next time I'm going to layer red potatoes on one half and Yukon golds on the other and make a proper comparison for flavor. Those Yukons were great and I loved their color. I'll also use a shallower dish to get more crust and cut down on those extra few minutes of cooking time.

With a nod to a few Weight Watchers present, I subbed fat-free half-and-half for half of the heavy cream. Not much savings, but it looks as if the dish will work with all FF half-and-half and maybe a little less cheese if I had to. I had some good, flavorful Gruyere and I think I could cut back on it a little if necessary. I'll have to do a nutritional evaluation to see if it's worth tinkering with for dieters.

I can envision using this as a main course with a salad, it's so good.

I'm so glad you liked it. I have never done a low fat version, I only make this for special occasions, and I probably use a little more cheese and dill than called for, I only weigh the potatoes and measure the liquids, but wing it on everything else. I had bought a 1.5 pound block of gruyere at Costco for this, ganga at $7.59 a pound, and used all of it, but then again, it was triple the amount. I am going to use Yukons next time.

I think an old client gave me this recipe, originally came out of BA or some other magazine, but I really can't remember. I know everytime I have made it, there's never any left.

Jane and Rita,

Okay - you two have me hooked on this recipe. I jusr got back from the grocer and will fix this tonight. I also plan to do Jane's Mustard Coated Rosemary Game Hens, and an Indian spinach side dish with peppers and ginger. My wife is very happy!

Thanks for the recipes and ideas.

Ray

Ray, if you like the Indian spinach dish, would you share it with us? Can't have too many spinach dishes. I make a Chicken/Beef/Pork/or Lamb pressure cooker curry dish from Lorna Sass's "Pressure Perfect" that is (of course) fast and very good, and the spinach would make a terrific side for that.

Rita

Jane,

My wife and I boith think your potato gratin dish is the best we have ever eaten! Wow! What flavors. Thanks so veryt much. Also, the game hens were great as was the spinach.

Rita - I'll post the spinach dish on the board in the appropriate place.

Thanks Jane!

Ray

Jane
I did the potatoes yesterday, we love them. Thanks very much for sharing!
Jim

I made a version of this last night. Having just driven 500 miles to get home and with no inclination to stop at a store I used what I had on hand: 1 lb of white creamer potatoes (I sliced with a mandoline), roomkaas cheese (a double-cream Gouda, I used half the amount called for since I was using just 1 lb of potatoes), garlic 'aioli' mustard from Trader Joe's, thyme, and half-measures of the cream and stock. I used a 10-inch saute pan for it. It turned out really good.

In discussing this with Jane earlier we're both of a mind to work in some onion or shallot, perhaps lightly browned or caramelized first, strewn as the potatoes are layered.

How can you go wrong with a little onion and/or garlic?

It's impossible. There are so many different things you can do, so many different ingredients you can use. Tomorrow I have to make a low fat scalloped potato dish. Sometimes I add onions, sometimes I don't if someone doesn't like them. I am making a cheese sauce for layering, with <gasp> skim milk and stock. Of course, I prefer heavy cream, it just tastes better. I think roasted garlic in this would be superb. If you don't have this, use that, and if you don't have that, use this. I usually make something as written the first time, but sometimes I don't even do that.

Jane and Kevin,

Onions and / or garlic sounds great. I'll bet some caramilized leeks strewn over the top would be good also - and I LOVE leeks! Thanks for the ideas.

Ray