Friday, August 1, 2008

Potato Gratin


A few days back, I prepared a potato gratin to go with our salad. It’s pretty simple to put together and extremely tasty too. This is, perhaps, one of the most satisfying dishes that I’ve posted on this blog.

Potato gratin is known by various names. In North America, the dish is referred to as scalloped potatoes. In French-speaking Canada, the dish is referred to as pommes de terre au gratin. The dish may also be known as gratin dauphinois, pommes de terre dauphinoises or potatoes dauphinoises depending on where it's from. (Source: Wikipedia)


Here’s my recipe for a low-fat potato gratin dish that is rich in flavor, but not in fat and calories.

Ingredients (recipe adapted from here)
In a skillet:
1 Tbsp butter
1 big onion, sliced thinly
3 garlic cloves, smashed and chopped finely
Salt and pepper

In a pan:
2 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp flour
2 cups milk (I used 2%)
1 tsp red chilli flakes
Salt & pepper
4 medium Russet potatoes, peeled and sliced thinly (approximately 1/4 inch rounds)

Method:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly butter an 8x8 inch baking dish.

Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and cook slowly until caramelized. Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, in another pan, prepare the bechamel sauce/white sauce by melting the butter, blending in the flour & adding the milk gradually while stirring constantly till the mixture thickens, 3-4 minutes. Add salt, pepper and red chilli flakes and cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring frequently.

Arrange half of the potato rounds in a layer, in a slightly overlapping fashion in the baking dish, and season with generous amounts of salt and pepper. Spoon half of the onion mixture over the potatoes. Repeat to make a second layer with the remaining potatoes, season, and sprinkle the rest of the caramelized onions over the top.

Pour the white sauce as evenly as possible all over the potatoes.

Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until the liquid is absorbed, potatoes are tender and the surface is golden/lightly browned. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.


The gratin had a wonderfully rich and creamy texture even without any cheese or heavy cream. This one’s definitely a keeper!



This is my entry for Dhanggit's Perfect Party Dishes.

27 Burps:

mitr_bayarea said...

TBC-

Never seen this type of gratin recipe without tons of butter or cream, you made it really less fat. Looks so yummy!

Unknown said...

I love any type of gratin..Nice fat free recipe..

Shella said...

Am here after a long time TBC. Hope you are doing good. Have a lot of catching up to do on your blog. the gratin really really looks yumm and satisfying!! Got to give it a try.

Anonymous said...

god! that looks delicious...nice pic too

Rajitha

sra said...

Love the way the spoon's drooling and dripping white sauce - must be one of your best photos!

Kajal@aapplemint said...

Potato gratin sounds so comfort , just perfect for a lazy nite in with a movie n some girlfriends :)

TBC said...

Mitr- thank you.:D

Divya- Me too.:)I've made one with cauliflower too.
BTW, it isn't fat-free... it's got 3 T butter and 2% milk- definitely less fat than most other gratins.:D


Shella- it is really nice to see you here. I hope you are coping well. Keeping yourself busy is the key.
Lots of love and hugs to you. Take care.



Rajitha- a compliment?! kya ho gaya hain tujhe?;-) But I'll take it! :D Thank you.:)


Sra- really? I was thinking that I should also put a caption alongside the pic indicating that it was a spoonful of the dish. It kind of seemed to blend into the background.
I'm glad you think it's good. Thank you!:D


Kate/Kajal- yes! that's a nice picture u painted.:D

Laavanya said...

Oh it's very evident that you have a spoonful up - looks absolutely tempting. This is the post that i could see in the background as the IE error was spewed out... so couldn't comment on it earlier... Am definitely trying this.

test it comm said...

Potatoes and cheese are such a great combo.

TBC said...

Laavanya- thank you.:D
Please do, it is really very good! :D It might be even better if u use whole milk. I did not have any leftovers for the next day.


Kevin- I agree! But there's no cheese at all in this one.:D
Makes it a little easier to indulge without feeling guilty.

Richa said...

yummmmmmm :) *love* all things gratin ;)
btw, hv a good vacation!

TBC said...

Richa- same here.:D
and thanks...you be good now while I'm away!;-)

Shweta said...

Fantastic! Ekdum awesome recipe :) Gotta try this! Hope you had a nice vacation :)

TBC said...

Shweta- shukriya!:D
I'm still around...leaving soon...

Chibog in Chief said...

Gratin dauphinois is an all time favorite french dish! Thanks for giving me an idea to do this for my little girl's party!! The truth is i have never made this :-) Thanks for this great entry of yours!! i'll keep you posted for the round up!

TBC said...

Dhanggit- I've made this a few times now since I first made it.:) It is very good. If you'd like to make it for your daughter you might want to drastically cut down on the chilli flakes, 'cos it's really spicy!:D

Natalie Que said...

I clicked over from Dhanggit's blog. I love Potato Gratin or Scalloped Potatoes, this is so great to cut down the calories since I rarely make it for that reason! Your photo looks absolutely scrumptious!

TBC said...

Hot garlic- welcome to my blog
and thank you!:D

Anonymous said...

finally a recipe I can make when I have run out of cheese&cream! Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Just made this with dinner tonight- absolute winner with the mr!! so tasty, left out the chilli as we arn't the biggest chilli fans but it was delicious. what a fab recipe! :D

TBC said...

Thanks! Glad it worked for you!

Anonymous said...

I made this recipe yesterday and it is so creamy and absolutely delicious. Low Fat as well which makes it more amazing!

TBC said...

Anon- I'm so glad you liked it! Thanks for letting me know.

Anonymous said...

This is an amazing dish, it's now become a regular for the family and it's low fat. Thank you xxx

TBC said...

Anon- You are very welcome. It's one of my favorite dishes too. I'm happy to hear that you liked it.

Yana said...

Thanks! Was great. I added a little nutmeg to the white sauce along with white pepper, and a little thyme and rosemary to the onion mixture. I also had to add a little bit, like a teaspoon of olive oil, because the onions were sticking in my non stick pan ;(. Also threw in two shallots I had wasting away.

Was great! Thanks.

TBC said...

Yana- I like all your additions especially the nutmeg. I'm glad you liked the recipe!

Post a Comment

I'm glad you're here! Thanks for stopping by.