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Dad's Awesome Au Gratin Potatoes

Sun, 02/12/2012 - 06:52 | by Melissa A. Trainer

I had a craving for my Dad’s Awesome Au Gratin potatoes yesterday. These are the potatoes that I grew up on. They are the ones that my father made for parties and family dinners.  Whenever we had a glazed ham, these potatoes were served as well. They are so good, but I hadn’t made them in a while.


Yesterday, I decided to resurrect the recipe right in my own little kitchen. I don’t have a formal handwritten recipe from my Dad. I just have the ingredient list and the steps in my head. So, late in the afternoon, I spontaneously gathered some potatoes, onions, cheese, milk and cream.  I grabbed a large au gratin dish and positioned the slicing disk into my Cuisinart Elite.


In short order, I was ready for action and within about 70 minutes, I had a fabulous au gratin on the kitchen counter.  When I pulled that au gratin out of the oven…it smelled like home!


Dad’s Awesome Au Gratin Potatoes
So, here are my loose steps for making my Dad’s Awesome Au Gratin Potatoes:   


Step One:  Preheat the oven to 350 F and oil the au gratin dish lightly.  Position the slicing disk in the food processor. (I used my Cuisinart Elite. The slicing disk was set at 6)


Step Two: Peel about five medium russet potatoes. Feed the potatoes through the feed tube in order to get beautiful sliced potatoes. Transfer the potatoes to a bowl. Take about ½ an onion, peeled, and feed that through the Cuisinart feed tube.  Transfer the onion to another bowl.


Step Three: Remove the slicing disk from the Cuisinart and position the coarse shredding disk. (Note: You don’t need to wash the work bowl because the cheese is going to go into the casserole with the potatoes and the onions.) Shred about six ounces of Swiss cheese. (I used Kerrygold Swiss last night…It was outstanding. And it’s worth noting that I didn’t use a ton of cheese…just enough to add flavor without masking the flavor of the potatoes. )


Step Four: Layer the potato slices on the bottom of the au gratin dish. Sprinkle with some onion slices and season with salt, pepper, and about a tablespoon of flour. Add a little cheese and top with another layer of potatoes, onions, and a little flour. I created about three layers in my au gratin last night.


Step Five: Pour about ¾ cup of milk/cream over the mixture, add a final layer of cheese, and cover with foil.


Step Six:  Bake in the oven for about 45 minutes and then remove the foil. Bake for about another 25 minutes until nicely browned. Note: My baking time might seem lengthy, but it seemed just about right…and it was long enough that I was able to walk to the library, read a few issues of Writer’s Digest, do some research, check out a few books, and walk home…that took about 45 minutes. When I got home the foil was ready to be removed and the au gratin was ready to start browning up!


Served with homemade creamed spinach and rib roast, Dad’s Au Gratin Potatoes were simple perfection last night!


--Melissa A. Trainer

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Pickled Sockeye From Kodiak, Alaska

Thu, 02/09/2012 - 06:03 | by Melissa A. Trainer

I love meeting small American purveyors who have created a viable business from a treasured family recipe! When I met Barbara Hughes in the seafood department of Shoreline's Central Market yesterday afternoon, I knew that I had found an all-American entrepreneur.


Barbara hails from Kodiak and recently launched Pickled Willy's with the help of her uncle, Bill Alwert. Bill, who lives on Kodiak and is known as "Pickled Willy," has been fishing the Kodiak region for more than fifty years. Everyone loves "Pickled Willy's" seafood creations and about ten months ago, Barbara told her uncle that he should start selling his pickled seafood. He agreed and gave her permission to go full throttle with the idea. Indeed, she did.


Working with a local seafood research organization on Kodiak, Barbara tweaked and perfected her uncle's recipe. She developed the label, found a processor, created a marketing plan, and entered her products in this year's Alaska Symphony of Seafood.


Barbara won't know if her products have won anything at the Symphony of Seafood until the winners are announced in Anchorage next week. However, I have judged the Symphony in the prior years, and I would easily have given her products top marks on the judging sheet. When I sampled the salmon off a toothpick at Central Market yesterday, I was quite shocked. The pickled sockeye felt very substantial in my mouth...almost meaty. The flavor was wonderful--the fish wasn't at all fishy. It wasn't overly salty and the brine was exactly right. The whole impression was one of freshness and healthiness! It felt deliciously Scandinavian to me.


When I asked Barbara for serving tips, she told me to mix about 1/2 cup of sour cream with some fresh dill and then let that sit for a little while. She then told me to dice up the salmon and add it to the sour cream mixture. She suggested serving it on crackers and enjoying it with a chilled glass of white wine! Aha. I had just wrapped up a long, so these suggestions were right up my alley!


When I got home, I immediately tried Barbara's suggestion and served it to myself on a lavash cracker. It was perfect! Simultaneously fresh, clean, and rich.


So, folks, I think we have a winner here...


Photo by Melissa A. Trainer


--Melissa A. Trainer


 

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