Cooking 101: Potato Gratin

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During the my time  at L'Academie de Cuisine, I've learned to cook without recipes by learning French techniques. One major technique is to use lots of heavy cream, butter and garlic. This is sure to make your dish fantastic!

Potato Gratin from Week 6

Ingredients:

Butter

6 Garlic cloves

Leeks

Cream

Potatoes, peeled

Nutmeg

Parmesan Cheese

Salt and pepper

Method:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Sweat the leeks in clarified butter until soft. Smear butter on the bottom of an oval gratin dish. Mince 6 cloves of garlic and spread them on the bottom of the dish as well. The potatoes must be sliced very thin. Have everything ready to go before slicing them. Put the heavy cream and nutmeg in a bowl. Season with salt and finely ground pepper. The seasoning is what makes the dish good. Make sure to taste it before adding it to the potatoes. Slice the potatoes on a mandoline or food processor and place in a large bowl. Add the leeks and grated Parmesan cheese. You must have butter, garlic and cheese to make a good gratin! Spread the potato mixture into the bottom of the dish. Add the cream mixture on top. Make sure to get in between the potatoes. They must be completely covered in cream. Sprinkle more pParmesancheese on top. Clean the edges of the dish. Put a larger tray underneath the dish in case the cream bubbles over. Bake for about an hour until the knife slides through easily. You can make this on lower temperatures as well.

Thank you Le Creuset for the beautiful Gratin Dish!