Mashed Potato Gratin
Most potato gratins call for careful and meticulous placement of scalloped potatoes. This is a less fussy variant of potato gratin, adapted from Anne Burrell's recipe.
A little note about this recipe: The Hubs found the sour cream a tad overpowering, and consequently disliked this, but I thought the sour cream gave this a refreshing lift, and kept the cheesy mash from cloying. So if you're not a fan of sour cream, you should swop it out with regular cream instead.
Ingredients
1.35kg (3 pounds) potatoes (this is about 8 large russets), peeled
Salt
6 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
2 cups grated Cheddar
3/4 cup sour cream (if you don't like the sour accents, swop this out with regular cream)
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
3/4 cup breadcrumbs
Pinch cayenne pepper for a sweetened heat
Directions (feeds 4-6):
1) Boil potatoes in a pot with water that's liberally salted, together with the smashed garlic, until potatoes are fork-tender.
2) Drain potatoes of water and discard the garlic.
3) Add sour cream, milk and cheddar to the potatoes and mash them roughly.
4) Transfer to a baking dish. In the meantime, heat oven to 176 degrees celsius.
5) Combine breadcrumbs, parmesan and cayenne in a mixing bowl.
6) Top the baking dish with the breadcrumb-parmesan mixture, and pop into oven for 20 minutes until golden brown.
A little note about this recipe: The Hubs found the sour cream a tad overpowering, and consequently disliked this, but I thought the sour cream gave this a refreshing lift, and kept the cheesy mash from cloying. So if you're not a fan of sour cream, you should swop it out with regular cream instead.
Ingredients
1.35kg (3 pounds) potatoes (this is about 8 large russets), peeled
Salt
6 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
2 cups grated Cheddar
3/4 cup sour cream (if you don't like the sour accents, swop this out with regular cream)
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
3/4 cup breadcrumbs
Pinch cayenne pepper for a sweetened heat
Directions (feeds 4-6):
1) Boil potatoes in a pot with water that's liberally salted, together with the smashed garlic, until potatoes are fork-tender.
2) Drain potatoes of water and discard the garlic.
3) Add sour cream, milk and cheddar to the potatoes and mash them roughly.
4) Transfer to a baking dish. In the meantime, heat oven to 176 degrees celsius.
5) Combine breadcrumbs, parmesan and cayenne in a mixing bowl.
6) Top the baking dish with the breadcrumb-parmesan mixture, and pop into oven for 20 minutes until golden brown.
Comments
ps: I wonder if adding gruyere cheese would be better?
abt gruyere, while it's traditionally used as a melting cheese in many baked goods including gratins, this recipe called for cheddar instead, and i think it produces a sharper, stronger, richer flavour than gruyere. havent quite heard of gruyere being used as a substitute for cheddar (it usually is used as a complementary addition to cheddar), but it's more typically used as a substitute for swiss cheese.