Creamy Potato Gratin Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Place potatoes, garlic, and salt into a large pot, fill with enough water to cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium, and simmer the potatoes until tender but not mushy, 8 to 10 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer about half the potatoes to a 9x13-inch baking dish.
• Pour half of the cream over the potatoes, season with black pepper and nutmeg, and sprinkle half of the Gruyere cheese onto the mixture. Top with the remaining potatoes; sprinkle again with black pepper and nutmeg. Pour on the remaining cream, and sprinkle with remaining Gruyere cheese.
• Bake in the preheated oven until the cheese topping is crisp and brown on top, about 1 hour.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Butter a medium casserole dish.
• Layer 1/2 of the potatoes into bottom of the prepared casserole dish. Top with the onion slices, and add the remaining potatoes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
• In a medium-size saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Mix in the flour and salt, and stir constantly with a whisk for one minute. Stir in milk. Cook until mixture has thickened. Stir in cheese all at once, and continue stirring until melted, about 30 to 60 seconds. Pour cheese over the potatoes, and cover the dish with aluminum foil.
• Bake 1 1/2 hours in the preheated oven.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 425 degrees. Use a mandolin, food processor or knife to slice potatoes moderately thin (the thickness of two pennies is perfect). Place in a 3-quart saucepan and add 3 cups half-and-half. The cream should barely cover the potatoes. Add a little more if needed. Bring to a simmer and cook gently for 6 to 8 minutes.
• Meanwhile, butter a 2- to 2 1/2-quart baking dish. Dust dish with 2 1/2 tablespoons bread crumbs. Season potatoes by folding in salt (at least a teaspoon), pepper and nutmeg. Do not undersalt. Transfer potato mixture to the baking dish and dust top with remaining 1/2 tablespoon bread crumbs.
• Bake for 25 minutes. Allow to cool 10 minutes before serving. The gratin can be reheated, but if that's your plan, bake it for 20 minutes, leave it at room temperature and reheat it for 10 to 15 minutes before serving.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.
• Peel the potatoes and cut them into slices, neither especially thin nor especially thick (approximately 1/2-inch) and put them into a large saucepan with the milk, cream, onion, minced garlic and salt. Bring to the boil and cook at a robust simmer or gentle boil (however you like to think of it) until verging on tender, but not dissolving into mush. The pan might be hell to clean afterward, but any excuse for long, lazy soaking rather than brisk pre-or postprandial scrubbing always appeals to me. And, for what it's worth, I find that when pans are really, dauntingly, stuck with cooked-on gunge, it's more effective to soak them in hot water and detergent (i.e., the stuff you put in the washing machine, though I haven't tried, and don't think I would, with tablets) rather than dish liquid.
• Use some of the butter to grease a large roasting pan (15 by 12-inches) and then pour the almost sludgy milk and potato mixture into it. Dot with remaining butter and cook in the oven for 15 minutes or until the potato is bubbly and browned on top. Remove, let stand for 10 to 20 minutes and then serve.
• This is not the most labor saving way of cooking potatoes, to be sure, but one of the most seductive. And it reheats well as an accompaniment to cold roast pork, or indeed anything in the days that follow.

Steps:

• Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Combine cheeses in a large bowl. Transfer 1/3 of cheese mixture to a separate bowl and set aside. Add cream, garlic and thyme to cheese mixture. Season generously with salt and pepper. Add potato slices and toss with your hands until every slice is coated with cream mixture, making sure to separate any slices that are sticking together to get the cream mixture in between them.
• Grease a 2-quart casserole dish with butter. Pick up a handful of potatoes, organizing them into a neat stack, and lay them in the casserole dish with their edges aligned vertically. Continue placing potatoes in the dish, working around the perimeter and into the center until all the potatoes have been added. The potatoes should be very tightly packed. If necessary, slice an additional potato, coat with cream mixture, and add to casserole. Pour the excess cream/cheese mixture evenly over the potatoes until the mixture comes halfway up the sides of the casserole. You may not need all the excess liquid.
• Cover dish tightly with foil and transfer to the oven. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and continue baking until the top is pale golden brown, about 30 minutes longer. Carefully remove from oven, sprinkle with remaining cheese, and return to oven. Bake until deep golden brown and crisp on top, about 30 minutes longer. Remove from oven, let rest for a few minutes, and serve.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Peel potatoes, and place in a bowl of water to prevent discoloring. Rub inside of a 9-by-12-inch oval baking dish with cut sides of garlic. Heat cream, milk, nutmeg, and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt in a medium saucepan over medium heat until bubbles form around edge. Season with pepper. Remove from heat.
• Meanwhile, slice potatoes 1/8 inch thick; transfer to a bowl. Pour warm cream mixture over top. Mix well, using your hands to separate and coat potatoes, and transfer to prepared dish. Gently push potatoes down, and pour cream mixture from bowl over top. Sprinkle with Gruyere. Bake (with a baking sheet placed on the rack below to catch drips) until potatoes are fork tender and top is bubbling and brown, about 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°F with rack in middle. Generously butter a 3-qt shallow baking dish. Cut a round of parchment paper to fit just inside a 12-inch heavy skillet, then set parchment aside.
• Halve leeks lengthwise, then cut crosswise into 1 1/2-inch pieces (you should have about 8 cups). Wash leeks.
• Cook leeks in butter with 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper, covered with parchment round, in skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until tender, 10 to 12 minutes.
• Meanwhile, peel potatoes and slice crosswise 1/16 inch thick with slicer. Transfer to a large heavy pot with cream, milk, thyme, 1 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp pepper and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally (liquid will thicken). Stir in leeks, then transfer to baking dish.
• Bake, uncovered, until potatoes are tender, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.
• Do Ahead
• Gratin can be baked 2 days ahead and chilled. Let stand at room temperature 30 minutes, then reheat, covered, in a 350°F oven until hot, about 30 minutes.

Steps:

• Season chicken all over with 4 tsp. salt. Place in an airtight container and cover. Chill at least 1 hour and up to 1 day.
• Place a rack in middle of oven; preheat to 425°F. Toss potatoes, shallots, and 2 tsp. salt in a large bowl.
• Melt 4 Tbsp. butter in a small saucepan over medium heat and cook, stirring often, until butter foams, then browns, 5-8 minutes. Immediately remove from heat (it will continue to darken) and stir in cream, garlic, pepper, nutmeg, and remaining 1½ tsp. salt. Set saucepan over medium-low heat and cook, stirring, until salt is dissolved and mixture is warm to the touch. Stir in thyme and sage; remove from heat.
• Heat remaining 1 Tbsp. butter in a large stainless-steel skillet over medium-high until melted and bubbling. Working in 2 batches, cook chicken, skin side down, until golden underneath, about 5 minutes. Transfer chicken to a 13x9" or 3-qt. baking dish and arrange skin side up. Set skillet with pan drippings aside. Nestle potatoes and shallots around chicken (don't place on top). Pour brown butter cream over chicken and vegetables, making sure herbs and spices are evenly dispersed and tucking herbs into vegetables so they don't get too crispy when they bake.
• Bake gratin until cream is mostly reduced and chicken and vegetables are dark golden brown, about 40 minutes. Let gratin cool 5-10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, pulse bread in a food processor until pieces are about oat-size (you should have about 1¼ cups). Toss breadcrumbs in pan drippings in reserved skillet to coat. Cook over medium heat, scraping up browned bits with a spatula, until deep golden brown, 5-7 minutes. Let cool.
• To serve, top gratin with breadcrumbs. Serve lemon wedges alongside for squeezing over if desired.