burnt toast

I love this recipe. I know you probably make your own version of this and probably more frequently than me. But if you have the time to give this one a try, then do, because to me, it’s the best I’ve ever had. Here, instead of chucking everything into a baking dish and waiting forever till it’s done, you pre-boil the potatoes in the cream mixture, which not only makes it nice and creamy, but also cuts down the baking time considerably. If you’re not sure whether you should go for a medium / deep dish or a large / shallow one, go for the latter. Maximise that surface area to get the most of that caramelised cheesy goodness you get in the end.

Potato Gratin

Adapted from here.

Serves 4-6 people

500ml milk

250ml cream

2 garlic cloves, crushed

3 tsp vegetable stock powder

a few gratings of nutmeg

1 kg waxy potatoes, peeled and finely sliced

salt and pepper

80-150g gruyere (or more), grated

chopped parsley (if you can bother)

Combine the milk, cream, garlic, stock powder, and nutmeg in a large saucepan and bring to the boil. Add the potatoes and bring to a simmer, cooking them until they just start to soften. Remove from the heat. See if it needs any more salt, and add a few grindings of pepper.

In the meantime, preheat the oven to 200°C. Transfer the potato and cream mixture into a baking dish. Sprinkle over the 80 grams of grated cheese. Now, side note here – If you LOVE cheese, feel free to stir extra into the sauce before transferring it into the dish, and then layering more of it between the layers of potato. I swear I love cheese too, but here I don’t think it’s necessary. But you do you, k? Bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes, until golden and bubbly.