Potato Gratin

Thanksgiving is without a doubt my absolute favorite holiday, a day to give thanks for my favorite things: family, friends, and food. For the last few years, I’ve had the pleasure of preparing my family’s Thanksgiving meal with my mom, and this year is no different.

Even if it costs an arm and a leg to fly home from New York, I wouldn’t miss it.

To prepare for the big day (and to share some of my favorite holiday recipes with you), I thought, “Hey, I’ll practice on John!” No complaints yet.

I first made this recipe last year for my annual Passover seder, and it was such a hit that I decided it deserved a spot on this year’s Thanksgiving table.

You should make this recipe if any of the following apply:
(a)   You like potatoes.
(b)  You like creamy things.
(c)   You want to impress family/friends/significant others.
(d)  You were present at last year’s seder and know how ridiculously good this is.

Directions
You’ll need at least 5 or 6 large baking potatoes to fill a 9×13 pan. No need to rinse ‘em off, just peel the skin and place in a large bowl with water.

Potatoes have a tendency to turn brown shortly after being exposed to oxygen. By keeping them in water until you’re ready to use them, you reduce (or eliminate) the effects of oxidation.

Slice potatoes in half, then return to the water.

With the slicing blade attached to your food processor, run each potato through until thinly sliced. Of course, you could also just use a knife, but that would take much longer.

This will probably need to be done in batches, depending on the size of your food processor. Just remember to return the potatoes to the water once they’re sliced.

Time to assemble the gratin!

Find a large baking dish (I used 9×13) and begin placing the potatoes in a fairly even layer. Top with salt, pepper, some minced garlic, a few pea-sized pieces of butter, and a grate or two of fresh nutmeg.

Repeat with every other layer of potatoes until you’ve used them all.

Potatoes, salt, pepper, garlic, butter, nutmeg.

Let me take this opportunity to ask for forgiveness for using the following ingredient: you’ll need three cups of heavy cream.

I know, but it’s for Thanksgiving! The holiday season is all about family, friends, giving back… and heavy cream. While you’re at it, why don’t you forgive me for using butter, as well. Both butter and heavy cream will be making their way into many holiday recipes.

So yeah, just go ahead and pour those three cups of heavy cream over the top of the potatoes.

That’s how easily this dish comes together. Now all we need to do is bake it! The potatoes will need about an hour and a half to cook fully. Every 20 minutes, however, you should pull the gratin out and break the crust with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon.

Here’s the gratin after the first crust. As you can see, not much has happened. Using the back of a spoon, just press down lightly on the potatoes so the crust breaks and the potatoes are once again covered by heavy cream.

See?

Twenty minutes later, we have the second crust:

Sixty minutes in:

After one hour (and three trips out of the oven), leave the potatoes alone. Let them cook for the last 30 minutes to develop the final crust.

Ta da!

How good does that look?

No cheese, no bread crumbs, only one tablespoon of butter… and three cups of cream.

If you wanted to add a little something extra, try chopping some fresh rosemary or thyme and sprinkling it between each layer. That would be really delicious.

Dive in, cause this will be gone in no time!