Gratin Dauphinois

We have reached a monumental moment, dear readers. The moment when we switched from Recipe Book 1 to Recipe Book 2. That is to say, it's the same Recipe Book, but Josh's mom got so many recipes for us that she had to put them into two volumes. We have officially cooked our way through all the recipes in Vol. 1--with the exception of the sweets, of course.

The thing about Vol. 2 is it is almost entirely main dishes. Which is to say I thought I'd completed sides, too, but it turns out there are a few strays tucked in the beginning of Vol. 2. Which brings us to last night's recipe, Gratin Dauphinois, which, as you likely know, is french for 'cheesy potatoes.'

This recipe is from another Iowan, Huntington family friend Bob Haug. Bob Haug is reputed to be a Very Good Cook, which is good since a recipe for potatoes would have to be extraordinary for Josh to eat them given his strange and perverse hatred of all things potato. Josh is funny about the foods he doesn't like: although there are only a few things he doesn't like, that he doesn't like them at all is clearly a source of great embarrassment to him. If you would like to embarrass Josh, serve him a meal of mayonnaise, potatoes, and salad dressing. He may openly weep. If you would like to see him dance around in glee, give him sausage. Then let him riff for 17 minutes on every corny 'wiener' joke he can come up with. Hint: there's a lot.

Anyhow, back to potatoes. Bob Haug claims Gratin Dauphinois is his favorite recipe from a French cookbook called At Home in Provence. Also, unlike Josh, I love potatoes. Especially when they have cheese with them. As such I was pretty psyched to make it. So psyched that I have made it before. And, was underwhelmed.

So underwhelmed that I remember being underwhelmed, as anyone with too-high hopes to high oft finds themself. That is not a word, but whatever. I think I expected it to be more of a potatoes au gratin, and instead this is a little lighter, a little fancier. Also my notes in the margins include that it needed more salt. I think I also vaguely remember it being a bit of a hassle to make.

This time, however, with lower expectations, I was actually much happier. Probably because I was prepared for the type of cheese to potato ratio situation I was going to have, and because I dumped an armload of salt in (or, okay, maybe more like a teaspoon). And it wasn't a hassle, so I don't know what the story with that was.

It also came out looking quite perfectly fancy. So fancy that I insisted on being in this photo so I could look like Ms. Holly Housemaker herself. I normally don't appear in the photos because, as a freelancer, I don't usually bother doing things like my hair or dressing normally. But the line of my vanity is just such that while I don't bother wearing make up most days, I don't want to be photographed for perpetuity without it. But this time I made an exception. Note: I may not have been wearing a bra at the time of this photo, so I put on the apron for your benefit.

You're welcome

Most importantly, Josh liked the recipe. Ate his whole serving. I don't know if this means he'll go into the fridge for leftovers, but when I looked over his plate was clean, so there's that.

Nice 'Tates

Bob Haug's Two Time's A Charm Gratin Dauphinois

1 plump fresh garlic clove, peeled and halved
2 lbs firm-fleshed potatoes, peeled and sliced very thinly
4 ozs freshly grated Gruyere cheese
16 fl ozs whole milk (A.K.A. 2 cups)
4 fl ozs creme fraiche
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

.5 Go to grocery store for ingredients. Realize that things like creme fraiche and Gruyere aren't at just any grocery store. Save yourself the multiple stops and just go to the fancy one. Also: wonde what the Hell a firm-fleshed potato is. Decide you don't want to know.
1. Preheat oven to 375 F.
2. Rub inside of baking dish with garlic. Wonder if this really does anything.
3. In large bowl, combine the potatoes, 3/4 of the cheese, the milk, creme fraiche, salt and pepper. Debate about whether to use kosher salt instead of sea salt, given your new appreciation for all things kosher salt. Give in to sea salt for sake of recipe book, but vow to use kosher next time. Spoon the mixture into the baking dish, pouring the liquid over the potatoes. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese.
4. Place in center of oven and bake until potatoes are cooked through and the top is crisp and golden, about 1 1/4 hours.
5. Put on bra or apron and pose for photo with your fancy potatoes. Be amazed while Josh eats them.