Ruth's Chris Potatoes Au Gratin

Martin often chooses Ruth's Chris as our special date destination. As a matter of fact, we're going there tomorrow night in celebration of our 33rd wedding anniversary. I love me some steak from Ruth's Chris, though I may have to modify my dinner this time, after looking at the calorie content for some of those fine steaks. ONE of them equaled out to a whopping 1,500 calories - or, in other words, the complete caloric intake I'm allowed for an entire day. I knew that, beyond the ridiculously hot ovens used, the other secret to those melt-in-your-mouth steaks is BUTTER. Lots of it, apparently, based on that huge amount of calories!

After my careful research, I've come up with what I'm going to order tomorrow night. A meal that will taste divine without breaking the bank on my allowed calorie intake. It'll be asparagus instead of potatoes, a lettuce wedge instead of the (much better) chopped salad, and a petite filet with shrimp as the main attraction. And when I've eaten all those sensible choices, I'll squander some calories on a nice dessert! Hey, your anniversary only comes once a year!

Everything is good at Ruth's Chris. Well...maybe not. I had crab cakes there once and they tasted so awful and fishy that I couldn't even finish them. Do you know how hard it is not to eat all of a entree when it's cost you as much as anything on the Ruth's Chris menu????? One dish I do love, however, is their au gratin potatoes - though to be honest, I love about any kind of potato dish that involves heavy cream and lots of cheese! When I found this copycat recipe on the internet, I had to try it.

Here's the deal. It's an easy dish to make and it tastes great. Is it just like Ruth's Chris'???? I don't know because it's been a very long time since we last had a meal there (like say, maybe, last August 30th????). Hmmmm....does this mean I'm going to have to order some of those potatoes just so I can do a fair comparison test?


Ruth Chris Steakhouse Potatoes Au Gratin

5 medium russet potatoes, peeled
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 Tbsp flour
1 large clove garlic, pressed
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp fresh black pepper
1 Tbsp butter softened
1 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Cut the potatoes into 1/4 inch slices, then quarter each of those slices.

Beat together the cream, milk, flour, garlic, salt, and pepper by hand just till well combined.

Coat the inside of a large baking dish with the softened butter. Arrange the potatoes in the dish and pour the cream mixture over the potatoes.

Cover and bake for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake another 20 or so minutes or until the potatoes are starting to brown on the top.
Note: Watch the time as every oven is different. The recipe called for a total of 60 minutes but my potatoes were overcooked. The second time around, at 40 minutes total, they were perfect.

Sprinkle grated cheese over the top and continue to bake for another 5-10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and slightly browned and the potatoes are tender.