Au Gratin Potatoes - the perfect recipe?

[CarolPa]

What is the difference between Au gratin potatoes and scalloped potatoes? Is it just the cheese? My mother used to make absolutely heavenly scalloped potatoes....unfortunately she didn't use a recipe so I have nothing to go by.

My brother and I didn't like au gratin potatoes. When she made them we would say "Ug. Rotten potatoes." LOL

 

[Cooking Goddess]

I am on a mission to find/create a recipe for the perfect au gratin potatoes.....

Good thing there are all kinds of foods to suit all tastes! That makes it tricky to create the "perfect" recipe, too.......

Rasp, I think GG just figured out the perfect recipe! You can have fun mixing and matching all kinds of cheese blends all winter long, making sure to mark down what you used and how much, and the potato dish that makes you have a second helping and STILL go back for "just a little more" will be the perfect one for you and your taste buds. Warning: if you aren't careful your spring clothes won't fit you come next April...

 

[Raspberrymocha55]

That's my plan! I will use the ideas everyone has given me and go from there. I do know that Betty Crocker's recipe is good but awfully bland. I'm thinking onions, but not sweet ones as The potatoes are sweet enough for me. Garlic, maybe roasted garlic might be good, but a bit sweet, too. No nutmeg either. Some sort of Swiss type cheese, extra sharp cheddar, cream type cheese, sour cream or buttermilk, garlic, chives; I'm thinking to try variations. Over my dead body I will write down as I go, so I will eventually have my perfect "old rottens" recipe. My hubby will be my Lab rat!

Due to my hubby being traumatized by having to scrub his mother's ungreased mac and cheese pans every Friday night, our home does not do mac and cheese. Although I love it as long as Processed cheeses are not involved!!

 

[GotGarlic]

That's my plan! I will use the ideas everyone has given me and go from there. I do know that Betty Crocker's recipe is good but awfully bland...

Good but bland? Interesting description. I don't do bland myself. Methinks it's the lack of salt in your cooking that makes recipes taste bland. I understand why you don't use salt, but it really is indispensable for bringing out the flavor in food. Good luck with your quest.

 

[Raspberrymocha55]

Good but bland? Interesting description. I don't do bland myself. Methinks it's the lack of salt in your cooking that makes recipes taste bland. I understand why you don't use salt, but it really is indispensable for bringing out the flavor in food. Good luck with your quest.

I don't usually list salt in recipes, but I cook with it. Yes, I'm salt sensitive, but food would be horrid without it. I grew up on Betty Crocker, lots of good Scandinavian recipes in the old versions, and always make "her" rhubarb custard pie as it is marvelous. But I often find her sidedishes less inspiring, even though mom still swears by them.

 

[mysterychef]

I was watching Sara Moulton make Mac and Cheese the other day. She used whatever leftover cheeses in the fridge she had on hand. Blue cheese, gruyere, cheddar, parmesan. cottage cheese, swiss and others all mixed together. She said she gets a lot of compliments on an otherwise simple dish. Seems like they would be good with potatoes also. I know we have very little cheese leftovers in our house.

 

[GotGarlic]

I don't usually list salt in recipes, but I cook with it. Yes, I'm salt sensitive, but food would be horrid without it. I grew up on Betty Crocker, lots of good Scandinavian recipes in the old versions, and always make "her" rhubarb custard pie as it is marvelous. But I often find her sidedishes less inspiring, even though mom still swears by them.

I just checked my recipe in my cookbook software and I guess I've "improved" on the original I actually use 1 cup of extra-sharp cheddar and 1 cup of mozzarella and reserve 1/4 cup of each to mix with bread crumbs and top the casserole. I do like the thyme idea; I'm going to try that next time.

 

[Raspberrymocha55]

Had to throw the last batch away. Too much Jarlsburg cheese, simply wasn't edible. Oh well, such is life.

 

[Kayelle]

Personally, I think too much of any secondary ingredient can ruin a dish and that includes cheese in a potato dish. My recipe calls for a few ounces of Gruyere cheese, although you could add more if you wish. I call the dish scalloped potatoes, although some would argue the cheese makes it Au Gratin. Call it what you will, it's a very good recipe I'm happy to share again.
http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/f18/perfect-scalloped-potatoes-83342.html

 

[Mad Cook]

Personally, I think too much of any secondary ingredient can ruin a dish and that includes cheese in a potato dish. My recipe calls for a few ounces of Gruyere cheese, although you could add more if you wish. I call the dish scalloped potatoes, although some would argue the cheese makes it Au Gratin. Call it what you will, it's a very good recipe I'm happy to share again.
http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/f18/perfect-scalloped-potatoes-83342.html

I don't use cheese at all in my gratin dauphinois. And no béchamel sauce either, please. I use Elizabeth David's recipe which is just butter and garlic rubbed round the inside of a shallow dish, firm waxy potatoes (Yukon Gold?) very thinly sliced and layered in the dish, adding salt and pepper as you go to within 3/4 of an inch of the top of the dish then the cream poured over. I use 1lb or potatoes to 1/2 a pint of thick (heavy?) cream. OK, so the food police won't be happy but we aren't going to eat it every day.

Cook in a low oven (approx. 310F) for an hour and a half, raising the heat to fairly high for the last 10 minutes to get what Mrs D calls "a fine golden crust" on the potatoes.

Don't use King Edwards or any other type of potato which cooks to fluffiness when roasted or deep fried and your gratin will tend to go mushy and rather nasty.

If you MUST add cheese (and even ED conceded that Escoffier, among others, included cheese in gratin dauphinois) add it as you are layering the potatoes. Use whatever you like as long as it won't mask the flavour of the potatoes. And don't treat the gratin as a dustbin for every odd bit of dried up mousetrap cheese you can find lurking in the unexplored reaches of the 'fridge!

 

[Mad Cook]

Personally, I think too much of any secondary ingredient can ruin a dish and that includes cheese in a potato dish. My recipe calls for a few ounces of Gruyere cheese, although you could add more if you wish. I call the dish scalloped potatoes, although some would argue the cheese makes it Au Gratin. Call it what you will, it's a very good recipe I'm happy to share again.
http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/f18/perfect-scalloped-potatoes-83342.html

No, cheese does not (necessarily) a gratin make. Something described as "au gratin" just means a dish in which an ingredient is topped with a browned crusty topping, which sometimes breadcrumbs and grated cheese may be used but they aren't essential.

 

[Mad Cook]

I was watching Sara Moulton make Mac and Cheese the other day. She used whatever leftover cheeses in the fridge she had on hand. Blue cheese, gruyere, cheddar, parmesan. cottage cheese, swiss and others all mixed together. She said she gets a lot of compliments on an otherwise simple dish. Seems like they would be good with potatoes also. I know we have very little cheese leftovers in our house.

"Blue cheese, gruyere, cheddar, parmesan. cottage cheese, swiss and others all mixed together" Hmm, a dustbin then.

 

[CWS4322]

I don't make scalloped potatoes very often (only when I have leftover ham). I make my scalloped potatoes the same way I make Jansson's Temptation. I don't recall the last time I made au gratin potatoes.

Janssons frestelse - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Whenever possible, I get pickled sprats in IKEA's food section and use those instead of anchovies. If I can't get pickled sprats, I rinse the anchovies very well under hot water and then put them in a sugar-vinegar brine for about 1/2 hour. Not nearly as good as the real thing...I also don't cut the potatoes as shoestring potatoes. And, I add a bit of roasted garlic with the onions (which I cook for about 5-8 minutes).

Mr. Janssen's Temptation Recipe - Allrecipes.com

Jansson's temptation Recipe | delicious. Magazine free recipes

I imagine one could leave out the anchovies and add some grated cheese. The anchovies melt so you don't really notice them. You could substitute sun-dried tomatoes for the anchovies--the tomatoes would lend a salty flavor and make this vegetarian.

I usually preheat the oven to 450, bake for 15 minutes at 450, and then drop the temp to 375, add more cream, and bake for another 45-60 minutes. If I add the breadcrumbs, I add the breadcrumbs about 15 minutes before the potatoes are done.

I check them and add more cream if necessary (I usually use more cream than either of those recipes use). These are really great the next day reheated. My friends in Stockholm would make a pan of these to serve to friends who came back to their apartments after a night out (nacht tisch). I make mine the way my friend in Stockholm made his. He usually didn't add breadcrumbs (and I often forget the crumbs). I love this dish. It is on my "comfort foods" list.

 

[Raspberrymocha55]

The right combo of cheese, onion and garlic is what I am trying to refine. I am also experimenting with potato cuts: sliced, sticks, cubes. I prefer a red potato with skins, although Yukon gold is nice, but the subtle buttery taste is lost with the cheeses etc. For zing I've experimented with minute amounts of worchetershire, soy, vinegars, etc. You all have given me lots of good ideas, now just to pull it all together!

 

[Oldvine]

Cheese doesn't last long enough in our fridge to get dusty in the bin or not. Big chunks, as in bricks, can turn into smaller chunks and then gets joined up with other smaller chunks and becomes an au gratin with potatoes and sometimes pasta.

 

[bgoogle]

When I make scalloped potatoes I cut the potatoes on my mandolin, then put them in the baking dish and pour heavy cream over. Into the oven they go to bake while the potatoes absorb much of the cream and the natural starch on the potatoes thickens the remaining cream into a heavenly pure sauce. This is not a recipe I found anywhere, I just stumbled across it in my brain when I was first married and that was a long time ago. People swoon over this stuff. I'm wondering whether the sprinkled addition of some sharp cheese (just a little of it goes a long way) between the layers of potatoes would result in a good gratin. I don't usually put any topping on it, but doesn't it have to have a buttered and cheesed crumb topping in order to be called a gratin? That would be wonderful!

 

[Raspberrymocha55]

I've tried several recipes which use the cream. It's not result which I am seeking. I've got in mind seriously gooey extra sharp cheddar, garlickly crusty potatoes. Mild flavored heavy cream based sauces are not my thing. I like " in your face" rather than subtle flavors. I will hit on what I want eventually. Last time I used a white sauce base with sharp cheddar, a bit of Swiss, Parmesan and ( please don't laugh at this next ingredient) Velvetta. Used a half head of garlic and a bit of onion with tons of cracked black pepper. It was good, but still not perfect. I'm getting close though.

 

[Termy]

To me, Au Gratin is cheddar cheese.

This is not hard, but to make it good ?

Add a bit of mustard seed.

T