Scalloped Potatoes With Heavy Cream and Cheese

Queen Dragon Mom's Note:

Julia Child Rules!!! "Gratin Jurassien" Named for the Juras region in Switzerland. A mainly Francophone region in the Jura mountains that border France. Use more cheese if you want to, it won't hurt, especially on the top of the casserole. This is filling and rich and goes wonderfully with beef, pork, lamb, pretty much anything. It also freezes and reheats nicely. You can also saute pearl onions in butter and put them in amongst the potatoes and cheese. An afterthought: try to get waxy potatoes, like reds or golds, to make sure that the slices don't turn to mush when absorbing the cream. (and that should be emmenthal cheese, but I can't get it to correct. Sorry.)

• Total Time: 2 hrs 40 mins
• Prep Time: 1 hrs 10 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs 30 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

• 2 lbs red potatoes, peeled
• 4 tablespoons butter, no salt clarified
• 1 cup grated emmenthaler cheese or 1 cup gruyere
• 1 1/4 cups whipping cream, room temperature
• 1/2 cup milk, if needed, boiled and kept warm
• black pepper

Directions:

1. First: Please read the introduction.
2. Slice the potatoes into 1/8 inch slice.
3. Place in bowl and cover with cold water.
4. Let soak for at least an hour.
5. Drain well and pat dry.
6. Heat oven to 300°F.
7. Using 1 T of the butter coat the bottom and sides of a 10 inch, 2" deep casserole.
8. Arrange potatoes in layers, after each layer add cheese, pepper and small amount of butter.
9. Repeat to use all the potatoes, finishing the top with cheese and the last of the butter.
10. Heat the cream, VERY GENTLY, until butter begins to appear.
11. Immediately pour the cream over the potato layers. It should come up the side of the pan about halfway, add milk if needed.
12. Bake for 1 1/2 hours until top is lightly browned.
13. The cream should have absorbed into the potatoes, which should be tender, not mushy.
14. Remove from oven and let sit for 10 minutes, loosely covered.

Reviews

[EdwardLCote]

I just ate mine. (okay, "wolfed down" is more accurate...) Let me start with the caveats and provisos, as I am wont to do.

1) Instead of using any butter, I just sprayed the bottom of the pan with PAM. Seems to have done the trick.
2) I used what I had on hand: a) russets instead of reds and b) a blend of cheddar and parmasean instead of gruyere.
3) I did not peel the potatoes. Yes, I'm lazy. But, hey- I like the skins and that's more much-needed nutrition.
4) I did not soak the potatoes for the full hour. I figured that I shouldn't because the russets are less waxy. With another 10 minutes of soaking, they probably would have melded with the cream better. Lesson learned.
5) I increased the recipe by 1 serving so it would better fit my trusty 9 x13 Pyrex.
6) I used a lot more cheese, maybe 2 cups total; certainly more than the extra serving called for.
7) The recipe says to let it sit for 10 minutes. I recommend 15 to 20. You want this to mellow out and be cooled enough for shoveling.

Now, all that said, obviously I really liked it. The changes I made probably resulted in something more rustic and less refined, but I can't be sure without a comparison. Still, this is an excellent dish sure to please even picky eaters. If this really can be made with milk instead of cream, then I have a new favorite potato recipe.

[Chef #1481846]

Had great flavor, easy to make but turned out a little watery and I couldn't get the top to brown - have no idea why.

[antonia58]

Hi, made the scalloped potatoes and not sure what went wrong. when cooked the milk (used half and half cream)looks cruddled. help anyone. thanks