David and I each have our own way of approaching a fully loaded dinner plate. I immediately try each of the vegetables and side items before moving on to the main portion, and I rotate eating all of the elements. David, on the other hand, heads straight for the meat. He might give the vegetables and sides a little taste, but they’re usually left on his plate and eaten last. But not with these potatoes. Just from watching him devour the first and start on the second before even tasting his BBQ chicken legs, I knew these potatoes would be amazing. Oh, was I ever right. We finished them off, but still wanted more. I went to make a second batch, but my cheese grater was being cleaned in the dish washer. We will have to wait until tomorrow…but you don’t have to!
To make these potato gratins, preheat your oven to 400ºF. Use a mandoline to slice a baking potato into 1/8th of an inch slices. Make sure the slices are all the same size so that the potatoes cook evenly. One potato makes about 6 gratin stacks. Two stacks per person is probably sufficient for most people, but we each ate 3 and wanted more!
Coat a muffin tin with non-stick spray. Put 2 potato slices into each of the cups, and season them with salt and pepper. Sprinkle on some shredded gruyère cheese. Repeat this process until your muffin tins are full, about 2 more times/4 more slices.
After you’ve salted and peppered the top potatoes, pour 1 tablespoon of cream into each cup. Sprinkle more shredded cheese over the tops.
Bake the potato gratins for 30 minutes or until the cheese is brown and the potatoes can easily be pierced with a fork. Run a small knife around the edges of the stacks to break them free from the muffin tin, and pop them out. I don’t know what happens to the cream, but these potato stacks aren’t liquidy at all.
The top layer is crisp from the cheese and the heat, and the bottom layer is crisp from touching the hot metal muffin tin. And the in-between layers are perfectly soft and cheesy. You can pick these stacks up with your fingers and take bites out of them (me), cut them with a fork and knife like a civilized person (David), or peel each layer apart for more individualized attention (also me). I want another one right now. I think I just heard the dishwasher signal the end of its cycle with a beep! But it sounds more like a dinner bell to me.
This recipe was adapted from Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food.
Shopping list:
- Baking potato- 1 for 2 servings
- Gruyère cheese
- Cream
- Salt and pepper
I love this dish! I’ve made them before with sweet potatoes and rather than cream I pour over brown sugar mixed with canola oil and paprika. Love your blog!
What a great idea! I think I could eat a whole pan of these myself, though!
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Wow, simply lovely!
Sounds so yummy and so adaptable ingredient wise. Would be perfect for dinner, on a brunch/buffet table or as an appetizer!
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Bake for 30 minutes at what temperature? If I missed that I apologize but I don’t recall seeing it. Bake at 300? 100? 250?? The Temp in baking makes a huge difference in outcome.
Bake at 400 degrees F (see second paragraph). I hope you enjoy them!
Thanks! I missed it even after three reads. Sad as I was a restaurant manager and a chef in Missouri and California. It was even in bold. Sad what age does. I’m. Asking them tomorrow, I love potato but my wife and I can’t eat them often.
Made this and used some leftover ricotta and spinach then some crumbled bacon. Everyone loved it. We ended up making a second batch. Thanks for the share.
That sounds like a delicious adaptation! The only problem with this recipe is that a muffin tin can’t accommodate as many potato stacks as I want to eat!
These are stunningly good! Have used sharp ched once and gruyere another time. Prefer the cheddar. Am making some now with chipotle cheddar. The best part is how the layers stay distinct and don’t turn to mush, no matter what cheese I use. Have even used 1% milk once ( it’s all I had handy) and it still was superb! Even very tasty without added salt. It’s a bulletproof recipe. Congrats to you and yummy for me and hubby.