Gratins

[fifi]

A few months ago, I was mesmerized by Jeffrey Steingarten's recipe for Gratin Dauphinois. I was so moved I even ordered a wonderful Le Creuset enameled cast iron gratin pan. Having made Jeffrey's recipe several times, eventually settling on the simpler method, I was hooked. My next creation is preserved for prosperity in RecipeGullet... Fifi's Favourite Eggplant. Since then, I have subjected any number of things to my gratin pan, usually using the bottom rack/325F method. All have been a success. Carrots and heavy cream are amazing.

Like Thai curries and pasta dishes, the gratin has become an option for dealing with "this is what I have in the house, now what?".

Tonight, I had a handful of Yukon Gold potatoes that needed using and a big portabello mushroom cap that had been seasoned and cooked on the smoker with some ribs. This was a gift from my nephew last Sunday. (Got some ribs, too, but those were long gone.) I sliced the potatoes, diced the mushroom and sprinkled that on top. Oops. I don't have as much heavy cream as I thought. Ah Ha! I have some Mexican crema. I drizzled that on and added some salt & pepper. Into the oven.

Forty-five minutes later... Oh. My. God.

Any other gratin nuts out there? Any more ideas? (Surely someone has tried cauliflower. )

[suzilightning]

oh, baby, baby

i love gratins......

was supposed to go out to dinner tonight but was waiting for a phone call so i could call the mil and let her know johnnybird was ok

did a gratin of shallots, chiffonade of basil, bel chimay cheese, red potatoes and the salted water they were cooked in

went with a venison kielbasa, sauerkraut cooked in beer and apple sauce

give me gratins anytime, fifi

[Al_Dente]

For Valentine's Day this year I was given a red heart-shaped Le Creuset gratin. I've used it a couple of times already. I've never had one before but I can see myself using it often now.

Is the "bottom rack/325degrees method" the way to go?

From another thread, this is what I did:

Shred the yukon golds using the big holes on a box grater. Rinse them a bit (to remove some of the starch), squeeze out the water and pat dry as best you can with paper towels. Add an egg to the grated potato and mix it up. Melt some butter in a pan, slap a handful of the potato in there, and flatten it out to about a 1/2 inch thick disk-- basically like a latke. Brown it on both sides. Make 2 of these things.

Now you can make a little pie like thingy since you now have the upper and lower "crusts". Fill it as you like. I took a few strips of serrano ham ( ) and placed them in the bottom of a baking dish-- this way they crisped up a bit like bacon. Put one of the potato thingies on top. I sauteed a bunch of wild mushrooms and put this on top of the potato with some grated gruyere cheese. Now put the second potato thing over it. Sprinkle some more cheese, pour about 1/4 cup of cream for extra decadence over it, and pop it in the oven at 375 for 20 mins.

Made for a good breakfast the next morning too.

[slbunge]

How curious. I just read the Gratin chapter in Steingarten's book last night. I was thinking that on my next trip past the Le Creuset outlet I'll have to see if they have an appropriate gratin. Can't say that I'll be producing one per day as he does, but it might be fun to play with for a while until cooking outdoors becomes reasonable again.

[bleudauvergne]

I found two very used and battered looking la creuset gratin pans at a roadside sale a couple of weeks after we arrived in France, 10 francs each (that's a buck fifty in dollars). I think someone was clearing out some old restaurant serving material because I have since seen these types of dishes come out to the table in the old bouchons. They are perfect for two serving sized gratins.

My favorite winter gratins are endives or leeks, sometimes wrapped in ham, sometimes not, blettes (chard), all kinds of leafy vegetables, salsify, and potatoes (but not too often because I prefer to do tartiflette to have an excuse to use a reblochon). I often add diced smoked poitrine to my gratins.

At my house, add a salad and the cheese plate, and a gratin is a meal.

One thing I practically do always now is slow braising with dry vermouth before either topping with a goat cheese bechamel or creme fraiche and of course the obligatory topping of grated cheese. It's gotten so that I keep a bottle by the stove. It starts with a salting of the veggies in and then slowly and thoroughly reduce the liquid that the heat and salt naturally brings out, on top of the stove, while it's covered with foil. This steams the veggies as well as creating a bit of flavor by caramelization. Then I add a little dry vermouth to glaze the pan and reduce that quickly for flavor. Then comes the sauce and a transfer to the oven until the sauce and cheese are bubbly with a crispy brown crust on top. Simple but it hits the spot on those cold winter nights.

[sfmiller]

I love gratins in the winter. Various potato ones, potato and turnip, leek and cream.

My favorite one is blanched shredded cabbage with bechamel sauce (sautee about 1/2 cup slivered onions with the butter before adding flour for the roux, simmer with bay leaf and a few gratings of nutmeg; sometimes add cream or cheese if I'm feeling indulgent). Pour sauce over cabbage, top with garlic-buttered breadcrumbs, bake, eat.

[iguana]

I got my enameled cast iron gratin pan for $3 at a thrift store here in Chicago. I adore it. For roasting vegetables or potatoes, it absolutely outperforms a Pyrex lasagne pan. Debra Madison has an amazing butternut squash and carmelized onion gratin in Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. There have also been several excellent Fine Cooking articles about summer gratins-- with tomatoes and zucchini, etc.

[bleudauvergne]

Tonight I gratineed some leeks. Braised, wrapped in ham, and then simply gratineed with some cream and grated summer beaufort.

This meal, thank you for inspiration, consisted of the leeks, with a simple salad (can't tell you what the greens are, they just looked good, and contained a snail, which is now feasting on the moss below one of my bonzai trees), bread, and cheese plate. Thanks for reminding me of how wonderful gratins are.

Cheeses on the plate: brebis, tomme de savoie, chevre, and munster au cumin.

Wine: a very simple merlot (vin de pays des coteaux de l'ardeche)

-Lucy

[bleudauvergne]

I got my enameled cast iron gratin pan for $3 at a thrift store here in Chicago

Best way to get enameled cast iron, if it's not a gift.

[torakris]

I love gratins!

I have to admit though that the first time I ever ate one was when I came to Japan. The Japanese love gratins and they are a common restaurant item and are often made at home. They tend to be made with either macaroni or rice as the main component and the meat and vegetabels as playing a minor roll. The rice ones aren't called gratins though they are called doria.

I make gratins out of almost everything and Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone even has a chapter on them and all of the ones I have tried have been great. One of my favorites that I threw together one night was oysters, spinach and hard boiled eggs....

By the way, bleudauvergne, that green you've got there is mizuna, one of my favorite greens!

[fifi]

Great ideas.

Al_Dente, that potato pancake thing is a wowser. I have the big Le Creuset and then got four of the indvidual size. I use one of those in the De Longhi convection oven if I just have a small amount and it is just me. I have also used them for individual (pig type individual ) Coquille St. Jacques.

On the 325F/bottom rack... That is the method Jeffrey uses and I find that it gives me the best crust and browning in the cast iron. Some things I have cranked up the temperature if I wanted it to get some more brown before overcooking. I haven't tried it with other pans so I really can't say about those results. Apparantly, different pans will behave differently. You just have to try these things out. You really can't screw it up completely.

[Mottmott]

Any other gratin nuts out there? Any more ideas? (Surely someone has tried cauliflower. )

Today's rerun of a Jaques and Julia program on vegetables included a cauliflower gratin: parboiled or steamed, broken into flowerets, covered with a white sauce and topped withcheese (gruyere, I think) that was then baked.n Sorry, but I missed the oven temperature.

[SobaAddict70]

This is not a gratin, but I guess you could think of it as one.

Andre Soltner, when he was the chef at Lutece, made an Alsatian potato tart that was a regular "off-the-menu" special: potatoes, bacon, onion, eggs, creme fraiche, parsley. These were layered and then baked inside a pastry shell.

As far as gratins are concerned, simpler is usually better.

Soba

[bleudauvergne]

potatoes, bacon, onion, eggs, creme fraiche, parsley. These were layered and then baked inside a pastry shell

I bet that was even better on the second day. Sounds just wonderful.