Potatoes Au Gratin

    I first learned about this dish at culinary school. "Gratin" basically means a dish topped with brown crust of breadcrumbs or melted cheese. There are various of ways to prepare this type of gratin dish, what's important is, of course, the potatoes!

 

    This recipe of mine is pretty basic but I did add chopped onions to give it extra flavor. Trust me, it's better if you add them!

Recipe:

• 4-5 large potatoes
• 1 1/2 cups or 120g Cheddar Cheese 
• 4oz or 115g Mozzarella or quickmelt cheese (for topping)
• 2 cups milk
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 3 tbsp of butter
• 3 tbsp all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/4 tsp parmesan cheese powder (optional)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F or 180C. 
2. In a large pot or saucepan, melt the butter. Add the onion and garlic and sauté for about 1-2 minutes. Add the flour and stir until well incorporated. 
3. Add the milk, cheese, salt and pepper, and parmesan. Stir until mixture has slightly thickened and cheese has melted. Turn off the heat and set it aside. 
4. Wash potatoes and pat them dry. Peel the potatoes if desired and thinly slice about a 1/8 inch thick. You can use a mandoline slicer to make this easier. 
5. Pour cheese sauce onto the potatoes and mix gently until the potatoes are well coated with the sauce.
6. In a baking dish, add the potatoes and level the top. Another way is using gloves and adding the potatoes one by one next to each other in an arranged manner pouring sauce after each layer. 
7. Cover the dish with foil and baked for about 1 hour until potatoes are soft. Then, take the foil off and top with quickmelt cheese or mozzarella and broil for about 10  minutes. 
8. Before serving, let it cool for a while.