Potato Gratin

Gratins are delicious and use relatively cheap ingredients, but they do take a little bit of time to put together and bake.  The result is ooey, gooey, cheesy goodness, though, so I do like going through the process from time to time. 

These days with all the boxed side dishes available at the store, it's rare to see an actually homemade potato gratin.  The boxed, neon-orange ones are admittedly easier and aren't completely awful, but they just aren't like the real thing.  Here's how I do it.

Potato Gratin

4 medium potatoes, sliced thin (peeled or unpeeled, your choice)
1/2 small onion, minced
1 celery stalk, minced
3 Tbsp butter or margarine, divided
2 c milk or half-and-half
3 Tbsp flour
6-8 oz cheese, grated
2 Tbsp bread crumbs (dry)
salt, pepper, paprika, parsley

Heat oven to 400F.  Rub a large casserole dish with the butter to coat.  Reserve 1T butter for topping later; cut remaining butter into very small pieces.  Whisk flour into milk with a dash of salt and pepper.

Layer the gratin in 4-5 layers.  For each later, evenly spread:: a thin layer of potatoes, about a half cup of milk mixture, several bits of butter, a sprinkling of onions and celery, dash of salt, pepper, paprika, and parsley, and an ounce of cheese.  After the final layer, the milk should come just barely up to the top of the potatoes.  Reserve 2-3 oz of cheese for topping later.

Bake gratin in 400 oven about 20 minutes.  In the meantime, melt reserved 1T butter and stir into breadcrumbs, mixing well.  After gratin has baked 20 minutes, remove from oven and top with remaining cheese, and then breadcrumb mixture.  Continue baking about 30-40 minutes or until potatoes are tender and top is golden brown.  Let rest 5 minutes and serve.

Happy eating!