Dec 31 2012
Le Réveillon de Noël, Part Deux
Today being the day of the other réveillon (New Year’s), I thought I would give a quick report on the Christmas banquet (twenty-one of us at the table). It was a wonderful night of family, friends, food and festive drinks. My adorable four year old niece wrote the customary (in our family) letter to Santa:
Santa's response: sugar cookies
Le Père Noël came and went, and once again, I could not catch a glimpse of him. What a pity.
With all the merry making, there wasn’t much time to take a lot of pictures of food, but I did manage to snap a couple of shots of one dish, the gratin dauphinois. This is a French classic, exceedingly easy to make, even if you don’t own one of these:
A mandolin makes slicing the potatoes a breeze.
With only a few ingredients (potatoes, milk, cream, garlic and cheese), it is the kind of dish you can throw together quickly, although the baking time is significant, so you need to plan for that. Russet potatoes work best, because they love to absorb whatever they cook in, and they are just starchy enough for this application. They turn out creamy, cheesy and delicious, and are always a big hit; I mean, who doesn’t like potatoes?
I’ll bet even Santa likes them.
Gratin Dauphinois
2.5 lbs russet potatoes (about 3 large)
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup cream
1 large garlic clove, peeled and halved
1.5 to 2 cups grated cheese (Gruyère or Comté work best)
sea salt and freshly cracked pepper
Peel and slice the potatoes as thinly as you can, and layer them in a buttered gratin dish. Bring the milk and cream to a boil, turn off the heat, put the garlic in the liquid and cover the pan. Let this infuse for 20 min. or so. Take the garlic out, add salt and pepper to taste and pour over the potatoes. The liquid should come about half-way up the dish. Cover with grated cheese, and cover again tightly with foil. Bake at F350 for about an hour (until potatoes are very soft when pierced with a knife), then remove the foil and let the gratin brown, about 15 to 20 minutes more. Serve piping hot as a side dish, or just by itself with a salad.
Before a trip to a F350 oven
Just enough time to snap a picture before they're gone...
Santa also loves braised cabbage with apples! Will you be posting that recipe too?
I might!