Today the Southwest of France was covered by snow, over three feet in one day. All of my family's weekend activities were cancelled, and I ended up with a little time to cook. After a very busy workweek filled with leftovers and frozen foods, I appreciated the chance to warm my family up with a few traditional favorites.
Late in the morning, as the first foot of snow was accumulating, I knew I absolutely had to make gratin de pommes de terre, or potatoes au gratin as Americans seem to say. I have tried a number of recipes for this dish, including a few written by famous chefs, but I usually go back to a basic formula: take a little over two pounds of potatoes, layer them in a baking dish with grated cheese, a little butter, and a bit of garlic between each layer, then pour milk over the whole thing until it pretty much covers the potatoes. I bake them for an hour and usually have to drain off quite a bit of the milk, but they are still delicious. Recipes I have tried with less milk seem to get dry, and recipes with a lot of cream are delicious but terribly rich.
No comments:
Post a Comment