Awesomely Simple Potatoes Au Gratin

Don't say I didn't warn you I've been in a Smitten Kitchen mood. At the beginning of each week, I note one or two recipes I'd like to try for that week. So far, I've mostly made my goals, though there are a few recipes I planned on making and haven't, as of yet.

I fall into that group of humans who love potatoes in pretty much any form. As a kid, I was even known to chomp on them raw, though I doubt that was very healthy and it sure doesn't seem appetizing. Cooked up, however, I'll take them fried, roasted, baked, mashed, and, most certainly, escalloped. Do they still call potatoes escalloped??? Because that's what I remember my mom labeling dishes just like this au gratin version. My aunt Els had a killer "scalloped potato recipe". I suspect if I dug it out right now and checked the ingredients, it would probably fall pretty close to the Smitten Kitchen potatoes I made for dinner last night.

I'm not a discerning critic for this recipe because..hello! Potatoes! How could I not love them and think they were fabulous and want a second helping and consider taking them to brown bag lunch today after Bible Study????? Even so, I did think Deb's recipe seemed less buttery/greasy than some other versions I've tried. I liked the way that less butteryness allowed the taste and texture of the potatoes themselves to shine. With the half and half, there was plenty of creamy moisture, while the cheese added that extra burst of flavor. For once, I paid attention to the amount of cheese suggested and, in spite of 2 ounces seeming like a pitifully small amount,  didn't add more. The result was a very balanced taste and, again, that welcome lack of shimmery greasiness that lots of cheese can sometimes produce.

 Awesomely Simple Potatoes Au Gratin
From Smitten Kitchen
Ingredients:
3 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces, plus an additional pat for buttering gratin dish

4 large yellow potatoes* (about 1 1/2 pounds), peeled (According to Deb Perelman, yukon golds work best because they don't get floury and fall apart as Russets tend to do.)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 cup milk, half-and-half or cream (if using something richer than milk, you can skip the butter)

2 ounces cheese, grated or crumbled (Parmesan or Gruyere are the classics, but that doesn’t mean that goat cheese, blue cheese or any of your favorites won’t work as well) I used Gruyere. In the last few minutes or so of cooking, I did throw less than 1/4 cup of grated cheddar, just to give the top a bit of color.

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease a 9- by 12-inch gratin dish with the pat of butter.

Slice the potatoes as thinly as you can (a mandoline works great for this) and arrange them in a layer, overlapping the edges slightly like shingles. Sprinkle the potatoes with salt and freshly ground pepper (don’t be stingy — this is where the bulk of your flavor comes from) and a third of the cheese before repeating this process with your remaining potato slices. Depending on how thinly sliced your potatoes are, you should end up with approximately three layers, with a third of the cheese between each layer. Reserve the last third of your cheese for later.

Carefully pour the milk over the potatoes. It should come up to the bottom of the top layer of potatoes; add more if this was not enough. Dot the top of the gratin with the three tablespoons of butter and bake it for about an hour. (I did skip this step since I used half and half on my potatoes.)  Halfway through the baking time, take the gratin dish out of the oven and gently press the potatoes flat with a spatula to keep the top moist. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top of the gratin for the last 15 minutes of baking. The gratin is done when the potatoes are soft and the top is golden brown.