Casserole: Potatoes Au Gratin

Subject: Potatoes Au Gratin
Newsgroups: rec.food.cooking
From: Scott (sws2000 at yahoo.com)
Date: Tue, 20 Nov 2007 12:21:29 -0600
--------
I'm making Potatoes Au Gratin tonight for an office pot-luck tomorrow. I've been going through various recipes and some say to cook the potatoes before placing in the casserole dish and others don't. So my question is should I precook or not?
From: Sqwertz (swertz at cluemail.compost)
Date: Tue, 20 Nov 2007 12:54:16 -0600
--------
Precook, or at least blanch them to get rid of some of the starch.
From: Scott (sws2000 at yahoo.com)
Date: Wed, 21 Nov 2007 14:10:33 -0600
--------
Sqwertz wrote:
> Precook, or at least blanch them to get rid of some of the
> starch.

They came out OK. The potatoes weren't as soft as I hope though. What I did was slice 1/8" thick then cut into 3 or 4 pieces. Then boil a little over 5 mins then baked at 350 for 1 hr 10 min. I think it's a good idea to precook if anything to clean and blanch them like you said. Plus they look nicer since they don't have that 'been sitting out too long' look. The water looked pretty nasty after boiling. They also didn't taste cheesy enough so next I'm using sharp cheddar instead of mild.
From: Lou Decruss (Me at notvalid.com)
Date: Tue, 20 Nov 2007 19:15:03 GMT
--------
Scott wrote:
>I'm making Potatoes Au Gratin tonight for an office pot-luck tomorrow.
>I've been going through various recipes and some say to cook the
>potatoes before placing in the casserole dish and others don't. So my
>question is should I precook or not?

I'm not sure I'd make anything for a pot luck I'd not mastered but more power to you if you have the nerve.

I agree with Steve at to pre-cook to fork tender. I like to to that in chicken broth, and add salsa in between the layers. I don't use a recipe anymore but this one looks even better than what I usually make. Anyone can make Au Gratin spuds so add your own touch.

From here:
http://www.milk.mb.ca/Recipes/entree-salsa-scalloped-potatoes.asp [archive.org]

1-1/2 lbs potatoes (about 4 medium)
2/3 cup diced peppers (red, green, or both)
2 green onions, thinly sliced
2 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp flour
1-1/2 cups milk
1 tsp ground cumin - optional
1-1/2 cups grated Monterey Jack cheese, divided
1/4 cup well-drained salsa (mild or medium)
1/4 tsp salt to taste

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Butter a 2 qt (2 L) baking dish and set aside. Peel and thinly slice potatoes. In a covered casserole, microwave potatoes on High for 7 minutes, stirring once. Set aside. In the bottom of the buttered baking dish, layer half each of the potatoes, peppers and green onions. Repeat the layer and set aside. In a medium saucepan, melt butter. Add flour, blending well. Add milk and cumin and cook over medium-high heat, stirring until thickened. Whisk in 1 cup (250 mL) of the grated cheese until smooth. Stir in salsa. Pour milk mixture over potatoes. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake for 35 min or until potatoes are tender and the top is bubbly and golden.
From: aem (aem_again at yahoo.com)
Date: Tue, 20 Nov 2007 13:43:24 -0800 (PST)
--------
Lou Decruss wrote:
> I agree with Steve at to pre-cook to fork tender. [snips]

No, not to fork tender. Just about 5 minutes. You want them to retain their sliced shape, not to fall apart into mush. The final baking finishes the cooking. -aem
From: Lou Decruss (Me at notvalid.com)
Date: Tue, 20 Nov 2007 22:10:05 GMT
--------
aem wrote:
>No, not to fork tender. Just about 5 minutes. You want them to
>retain their sliced shape, not to fall apart into mush. The final
>baking finishes the cooking. -aem

I know you're not supposed to admit to being wrong on usenet, but maybe I'm not clear on what "fork tender" actually means. I'm open to hearing definitions.

Mine retain shape. I slice them thin with a mandoline. 5 minutes sounds perfect. There is no "mush" when I'm done.

So what exactly is fork tender?

Learning Lou
From: Scott (sws2000 at yahoo.com)
Date: Tue, 20 Nov 2007 16:28:53 -0600
--------
Lou Decruss wrote:
> Mine retain shape. I slice them thin with a mandoline. 5 minutes
> sounds perfect. There is no "mush" when I'm done.

I'm going for about 5 mins then.
From: Sqwertz (swertz at cluemail.compost)
Date: Tue, 20 Nov 2007 17:21:19 -0600
--------
Scott wrote:
> I'm going for about 5 mins then.

3.5 minutes at 1/4" thick in 200F water.
From: Sqwertz (swertz at cluemail.compost)
Date: Tue, 20 Nov 2007 17:23:27 -0600
--------
Sqwertz wrote:
> 3.5 minutes at 1/4" thick in 200F water.

... and drain well on paper towels.

You don't want water in your gratins. The paper will sock up the residual starch.
From: aem (aem_again at yahoo.com)
Date: Tue, 20 Nov 2007 14:51:21 -0800 (PST)
--------
Lou Decruss wrote:
> So what exactly is fork tender?

I guess I took "fork tender" to be softer than you meant. We seem to agree on the cooking, which is what matters. -aem
From: sf
Date: Tue, 20 Nov 2007 21:55:49 -0800
--------
Lou Decruss wrote:
>Mine retain shape. I slice them thin with a mandoline. 5 minutes
>sounds perfect. There is no "mush" when I'm done.

why would you need to precook them if you've sliced them thinly on a mandoline?
From: Terry Pulliam Burd (ntpulliam at meatloaf.net)
Date: Thu, 22 Nov 2007 20:23:34 -0800
--------
sf fired up random neurons and synapses to opine:
>why would you need to precook them if you've sliced them thinly on a
>mandoline?

Eggsackly. And why precook it? That would make it hard to layer properly, IMHO.

A mandoline is truly one of the better kitchen inventions of the last century. I had a wooden mandoline-ish board from my grandmother with a metal slicer and adjustable (barely) thickness lever before I bought my current mandoline a few years ago. Wonderful gizmo to get uniform slices of whatever thickness you like. Also does a great job at julienne, etc.

The caveat is: Watch What You're Doing. You can lose a chunk of finger if you're careless. I *never* imbibe alcohol (as I sometimes do while cooking - usually a glass of chardonnary, unless the recipe turns on me like a snake and I switch to single malt :-) when I'm using the mandoline. And my movements are slow and careful. The food processor does a fast (and safe) job of slicing stuff, but it's random and sloppy when you're trying to get uniform slices that look good.

One of my favorite potatoes au gratin recipes (I omit the breadcrumbs, however):

Potato Gratin With Mustard And Cheddar Cheese

1 tablespoon butter
1 cup bread crumbs
1 tablespoon thyme
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 pound cheddar cheese; white, grated
1/4 cup flour
5 pounds russet potatoes; peeled, thinly sliced
4 cups chicken broth
1 cup whipping cream
6 tablespoons Dijon mustard

Melt butter in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add breadcrumbs and stir until crumbs are golden brown, about 10 mins. Cool crumbs. (Can be prepared 2 days ahead. Cover and let stand at room temperature.)

Position rack in center of oven and preheat oven to 400° F. Butter 15x10x2" (4 qt.) glass baking dish. Mix thyme, salt and pepper in small bowl. Combine grated cheddar cheese and flour in large bowl; toss to coat cheese

Arrange 1/2 of potatoes over bottom of prepared dish. Sprinkle 1/3 of thyme mixture, then 1/3 of cheese mixture over. Repeat layering of potatoes, thyme mixture and cheese mixture 2 more times. Whisk chicken broth, whipping cream and mustard in medium bowl to blend. Pour broth mixture over potatoes.

Bake potatoes 30 mins. Sprinkle buttered crumbs over. Bake until potatoes are tender and top is golden brown, about 1 hour longer. Let stand 15 mins. before serving.

Contributor: Bon Appetit

Yield: 12 servings
From: Julie Bove (juliebove at verizon.net)
Date: Tue, 20 Nov 2007 23:36:46 GMT
--------
Scott wrote:
> I'm making Potatoes Au Gratin tonight for an office pot-luck tomorrow.
> I've been going through various recipes and some say to cook the potatoes
> before placing in the casserole dish and others don't. So my question is
> should I precook or not?

You don't need to precook, but you do need to slice very thinly if you don't. I use my big mouth food processor.
From: llanalott at yahoo.com
Date: Tue, 20 Nov 2007 20:25:20 -0800 (PST)
--------
Julie Bove wrote:
> You don't need to precook, but you do need to slice very thinly if you
> don't. I use my big mouth food processor.

Makes quick work out of a mountain of potatoes.

Sometimes I still use a manual food processor. The old fashioned knife.
From: sf
Date: Tue, 20 Nov 2007 21:58:23 -0800
--------
Julie Bove wrote:
>You don't need to precook, but you do need to slice very thinly if you
>don't. I use my big mouth food processor.

LOL! Finally a female with real cooking experience weighs in. That has been my experience too. Don't bother precooking the potatoes. Why do men make cooking so complicated???
From: Jill McQuown
Date: Wed, 21 Nov 2007 08:20:58 -0600
--------
Julie Bove wrote:
> You don't need to precook, but you do need to slice very thinly if you
> don't. I use my big mouth food processor.

I've never pre-cooked the potatoes, either. Sometimes I use my food processor but even thinly sliced with a chef's knife is fine. I bake mine at least an hour which is plenty of time for those slices to get tender.
From: Tara (jarvis57 at ix.netcom.com)
Date: Wed, 21 Nov 2007 12:30:42 -0500
--------
Julie Bove wrote:
> I use my big mouth food processor.

Ooh! Is this the one you can drop a whole onion into? I really want that one.
From: sf
Date: Wed, 21 Nov 2007 16:32:10 -0800
--------
Tara wrote:
>Ooh! Is this the one you can drop a whole onion into? I really want
>that one.

You can if your onion is small enough Tara. I usually halve them though.
From: Julie Bove (juliebove at verizon.net)
Date: Thu, 22 Nov 2007 01:00:42 GMT
--------
sf wrote:
> You can if your onion is small enough Tara. I usually halve them
> though.

That's true. I LOVE onions and tend to buy really big ones. The ones I grow in my garden will fit in there just fine. Also, it took me a while before I realized that you can adjust the size of the chute so I thought only small whole things would fit in there. I also love it for grating zucchini for bread.
From: Julie Bove (juliebove at verizon.net)
Date: Thu, 22 Nov 2007 00:57:56 GMT
--------
Tara wrote:
> Ooh! Is this the one you can drop a whole onion into? I really want
> that one.

Yes! I actually never thought I would use a food processor, but then I saw that one and it was cheap, so I got it. Just used it to make cranberry salad. It saves me a LOT of time! I mainly use it to chop, slice and shred veggies. But I also use it for a few raw recipes.
From: "Michael \"Dog3\"" (don'task at donttell.huh)
Date: Wed, 21 Nov 2007 01:42:45 GMT
--------
Scott dropped this:
> I'm making Potatoes Au Gratin tonight for an office pot-luck tomorrow.
> I've been going through various recipes and some say to cook the
> potatoes before placing in the casserole dish and others don't. So my
> question is should I precook or not?

When in doubt, blanche them.
From: Cshenk (rubymaiden at cox.net)
Date: Tue, 20 Nov 2007 19:50:07 -0800
--------
Scott wrote:
> I'm making Potatoes Au Gratin tonight for an office pot-luck tomorrow.
> I've been going through various recipes and some say to cook the potatoes
> before placing in the casserole dish and others don't. So my question is
> should I precook or not?

I guess I'm too late for 'tonight' but if you boil them for about 5 mins then cool them in cold water, let chill for a bit, then bake, they wont fall apart as easy on serving.