Gratin Dauphinois - Classic French Potatoes Baked in Cream
"Very simple with no cheese topping or onions, just potatoes, butter, and cream, with a bit of garlic. Optional - If you add cheese to this dish, it will become a Gratin Savoyard. The recipe originated in the Dauphine, a region of mountains, forests, and pasturelands that lies between the Savoy with its alpine lakes and snowy peaks, and Provence, home to sunshine and lavender. Serve with meat or poultry. Note: Make sure your baking dish is large enough to allow the cream to completely cover the potatoes. Adapted from Williams-Sonoma."
- Ready In:
- 2hrs 25mins
- Ingredients:
- 7
- Serves:
-
6
ingredients
- 3 garlic cloves
- 3 1⁄2 lbs charlotte potatoes or 3 1/2 lbs russet potatoes, peeled
- salt & freshly ground black pepper
- 1 1⁄4 cups heavy double cream or 1 1/4 cups whipping cream
- 2 cups grated gruyere cheese (optional)
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into bits
- 2 tablespoons mixed chopped fresh chives and flat-leaf Italian parsley
directions
- Preheat oven to 375F (190C).
- Rub a large 3-qt. (3-l) baking dish about 3 1/2 inches deep with a split garlic clove and butter generously.
- Chop the garlic.
- Using a mandolin or a sharp knife, slice the potatoes as thinly as possible, about 1/8 inch (3 mm) thick. Blot the slices dry with paper towels.
- Spread a layer of potatoes in the prepared dish, slightly overlapping them if desired, and sprinkle with salt & pepper; cover evenly with a small amount of cream, and sprinkle with a little chopped garlic (sprinkle layers and top with grated gruyere cheese, if using).
- Repeat the layering until all the potatoes and garlic are used and the potatoes are completely submerged by the cream.
- Dot with small bits of butter.
- Bake in the hot preheated oven for a good hour, then increase the temperature to 400F (200C) for the last 15-20 minutes until the potatoes have absorbed all of the cream and the top has turned a nice golden brown in color.
- Serve in the cooking dish straight from the oven, sprinkling each portion with some of the chives and parsley.
- Menu idea: Serve with steak, peaches in red wine and a beaujolais wine to drink!
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Reviews
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Delicious!! Was perfect served to guests with prime rib. Simple ingredient list and short preparation time make it worth 5 stars alone! We will serve this again and again! Thank you for sharing.
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
<p>Married to my sweetheart for almost forty years and we have two wonderful children who are grown and have flown the coop. Also, we have been blessed with a wonderful son-in-law and beautiful daughter-in-law, plus FIVE grandchildren: two beautiful granddaughters ages five and eight, and three sweet adorable little grandsons ages 2 months, 2 years and 3 years. My husband and I share a combination of English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh, Dutch, Swiss, Polish, Austrian, German and French heritage, and our son-in-law and daughter-in-law are both Hispanic. We've traveled extensively to many countries abroad (we lived in Germany), and have traveled and lived in several states here in the U.S.A. Many of the recipes I post here are influenced by our combined heritage or from our travels, or they are old family favorites that I want to share with you. I hope you enjoy! Have been to culinary school with many years of cooking (mostly for my family) under my belt, so know my way around a kitchen. And I'm very lucky to have the best sous chef in the world, dddddh! One of my favorite chefs of all time is Jacques Pepin! I have several of his cookbooks, and enjoy watching his television cooking show Fast Food My Way. Another top favorite is Julia Child (of course!). A few other chefs I read/enjoy watching on t.v. are: Giada At Home, Ina Garten's The Barefoot Contessa, Nigella Lawson's Nigella Bites, and Patti's Mexican Kitchen, and many more. On my bucket list is dining at Thomas Keller's establishment The French Laundry in Napa Valley, California... as well as Alice Waters' Chez Panisse in Berkeley, and the James Beard award winning Tartine Bakery and Cafe in San Francisco. One day!! Hobbies/Interests: Decorating with fresh flowers and herbs from the garden is my passion, and brings me deep joy! It's really hard to beat!! I love connecting with others who enjoy the same. Gardening, decorating, sewing, music, dancing, film, and reading are also up there. Spending quality time with my grandchildren, family, and friends (and cooking holiday meals!). Currently, a newfound passion has been so richly rewarding for me: genealogical research. I heart ancestry dot com. And last but certainly not least, I absolutely LOVE cats--we have two half-Siamese fur babies (cats) that allow us to live here!! A Note of Thanks~ I try to personally thank everyone who kindly makes and reviews my recipes, but sometimes I am busy, late, or may forget. Please know that I am always humbled that you would try one of my recipes, and I enjoy reading the reviews and seeing all the pretty photographs. Thanks so much! </p>
