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Gratin de Pommes de Terre à la Dauphinoise
Created by Chef Juliette
Gratin de Pommes de Terre à la Dauphinoise turns a short list into a lesson in precision: slice evenly, season boldly, and bake until the milk custard turns tender beneath a bronzed Gruyère crown.
Gratin de Pommes de Terre à la Dauphinoise (Dauphiné potato gratin) teaches the discipline of even slicing. Potatoes cut to the same thinness soften together and drink the egg-bound milk into one tender mass; uneven rounds leave you choosing between raw centers and a tired crown. When it is right, the edge trembles with butter, the top is deeply bronzed with Gruyère, and the interior yields without collapsing into purée.
The original entry assumed a professional cook could read "moderate oven" without a number and divide two pounds of potatoes among several shallow earthenware dishes. It needed no saucier, no stockpot, and no salamander. Here, the written batch is halved in proportion for four and consolidated into one shallow dish at 350°F (180°C), with the half egg measured after beating. The source leaves its copious topping cheese and final pieces of butter unmeasured, so those receive practical quantities. Nothing else changes. One cook, one stove, one evening.
The brigade scaffolding was only the division among dishes, and that goes. The garlic-rubbed vessel, boiled milk, beaten egg, nutmeg, Gruyère, and real butter are the dish, and they stay. Before you touch the pan, set the slicer to 2 mm and keep every round there; this is the one step that decides the gratin.
Ingredients
mature yellow potatoes, such as Yukon Gold
Quantity
about 3 medium, 3 cups sliced (710 ml / 1 lb / 450 g)
peeled; slice 2 mm thick just before mixing
whole milk
Quantity
1¾ cups plus 2 teaspoons (425 ml / 438 g)
large beaten egg
Quantity
½ egg, 1½ tablespoons (25 ml / 25 g)
beat 1 whole egg, measure half, and reserve the remainder
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| mature yellow potatoes, such as Yukon Goldpeeled; slice 2 mm thick just before mixing | about 3 medium, 3 cups sliced (710 ml / 1 lb / 450 g) |
| whole milk | 1¾ cups plus 2 teaspoons (425 ml / 438 g) |
| large beaten eggbeat 1 whole egg, measure half, and reserve the remainder | ½ egg, 1½ tablespoons (25 ml / 25 g) |
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