Week 2 Decisions Decisions.....Part 2. Tricia's Potatoes Gratin

Tricias's Choice:    Potato Gratin

This was an easy recipe and I eagerly anticipated what I thought would be "no fail" results.  That said, I was surprised when I tasted the completed dish and found it to be quite bland and disappointing.  I had looked forward to the richness of the cream and Gruyere, and the seasonings sounded like they would do the trick.  But alas, they did not - in my book at least.  I will definitely not be making this one again but rather than disappointment I am mostly shocked that this dish turned out so differently from what I expected.  And from the heavenly aromas created while I baked it...... 

I used the exact ingredients listed- forgeoing the potatoes in the pantry and stopping by Wegman's to pick up Idaho Russet and the shredded Gruyere.  I used 5 potoatoes out of the 9 included in the 5 pound bag, and this was probably the first mistake.  The original extra heavy 10" pie plate had the potatoes heaped up in such a mound that I had to switch to a larger oval baker instead or the top half of the potatoes would not touching cream.

The oval baker was 10 x 14 and I had to add quite a bit of half and half to add liquid that could be visible at all.  I was sorry I did not measure how much extra I added - but I was "winging it" to get it just barely visible to the eye.

I baked for 45 minutes and then went the extra 15 - at which point the house smelled fantastic and the dish looked amazing.  I let it cool for 15 minutes or so and then cut a small piece.  I was surprised by the large amount of liquid that had not been absorbed.  Under the top coating of the cheese it was simply like layered potatoes in milk....not what the ingredients were.

                    

In all fairness, this looked even better than the picture in person. And it smelled divine...

soup-y bottom

Although this one fell flat for me, I shared with Nana and she had a more positive review of the dish. She also acknowledged the background of the recipe and said that it was intended to be an accompanyment rather than a distraction, and she felt it delivered in that area.

We both noted the wonderful Cauliflower-Bacon Gratin on the next page of the book and that looked so mouthwatering that I bought the ingredients for that at the same Wegman's trip :)  Will post when I get it done.