08 July 2008

Potato and Mushroom Gratin

I was going to submit Herbed Cheese Polenta (scroll down a bit to find the recipe) from Giada's Giada's Family Dinners cookbook but it is very similar to Johanna's submission. I put the link though, just in case you guys want to try it out. I cut the recipe to a third because I'd never had polenta and the recipe makes a lot! I thought the polenta was way to herby, but Shane liked it a lot. I also used cheddar cheese instead of parmesean because I wanted to test it out for Johanna, remembering the conversation about how some people think parmesean tastes like vomit. I thought the cheddar worked out well. But as for the actually recipe submission, I'm so lucky to have heard from Joanna that Del will eat mushrooms if sliced very thin. I found that a lot of the recipes I thought would be tasty either had parmesean, mushrooms or some food that Shane disliked. And I said to Shane "all you men are making my likfe very difficult right now!" And he said "we are men, woman! we like meat!" ugh. So, anyway, here is the Potato and Mushroom Gratin, which comes out of Nigella Express:

3 average-sized/1.5 lbs baking potatoes, thinkly sliced
1.5 cups milk
3 tablespoons white wine
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons garlic-infused oil (don't have this, so I used olive oil and some gaslic)
8 oz. cremini mushrooms, finely sliced to make 4 cups

1. Heat the over to 425 degrees and butter a shallow baking dish or gratin

2. Bring the sliced potatoes, milk, wine, salt, and pepper to a boil in a saucepan, stirring occasionally, and leave at a simmer while you get on with the mushrooms

3. Melt the butter and garlic oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 3 months

4. Pour the mushrooms and their garlicky, buttery juices into the pan of potatoes, stir to mix, and pour straight into the gratin dish. Bake for 45 minutes or until piping hot, and crisp on top.

When I made this, I didn't put enough salt, by a long shot and it was pretty bland. So, make sure to put a generous amount of salt.

6 comments:

Joanna said...

Del really likes gratins so this should be a big hit.

Johanna said...

It's funny that you remembered the parmesan cheese thing. That is Jerry - he thinks it smells like vomit, but I do still cook with it. I just sometimes cut down the amount I use. This looks good though!

Tina said...

We are NOT mushroom people, but I am perfectly happy to try this out without mushrooms. :-)
I am a HUGE potato fan

Leah said...

yeah that's what i was thinking... i'll probably make this without mushrooms :)

Leah said...

So I was looking at this again today, since this is the one recipe I have left to make. But, I don't think I'll have time to do it since you have to cook the mushrooms for 3 months! hehe :)

Unknown said...

that is a long time! i sure did make a lot of typos in this post :)