My cousin and I dearly love to cook together. Being as much of a foodie as I am, she was excited to check out a nearby butcher shop that specialized in local, pasture fed beef. So once we gave in to temptation, and purchased some beautiful steaks for dinner, we had to figure out what side dishes needed to go with these steaks. We tossed plenty of ideas around before settling on a classic. Potatoes. Steak and potatoes, in some form or other, just seems to be a marriage made in heaven.
Well, we didn't want just plain old baked potatoes so we found a recipe for potatoes au gratin. Of course we couldn't just follow the recipe as it was printed, so we added our own twist to the recipe, white truffle oil. I'm pretty sure we aren't the first people to add truffle oil to potatoes au gratin, but it felt like a new discovery to us.
So, here's the recipe for the rest of you. If you've never tried white truffle oil, please give it a try.I'm certain you won't be sorry.
Truffled Potatoes Au Gratin
serves 8-10
4 quarts water
2 tablespoons olive oil
6-8 medium potatoes, peeled
1 medium yellow onion, peeled and sliced thinly
1 clove garlic, minced (or more to taste)
1 and a half cups heavy whipping cream
8 oz. Gruyere cheese, grated
2 tablespoons white truffle oil (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste
Preheat your oven to 350. Place the water in a large pot and add the peeled potatoes. Bring to a boil and cook until fork tender, but not fully cooked. Drain potatoes and let cool in a bowl of cold water.
While the potatoes are cooking, sauté the onions and garlic in the olive oil until they are lightly brown and wilted. Set aside.
When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, slice them with either a food processor or a mandolin. You want the slices to be about 1/8 of an inch to 1/4 of an inch in thickness.
Place one layer of potato slices on the bottom of a 8 x 11.5 inch baking dish. Thinly spread a layer of the onions on top of the potatoes,then add another layer of potatoes. Continue like this until you are just barely to the top of the dish. Add your salt and pepper now.
Pour the heavy cream over top of the potatoes. Drizzle the white truffle oil over top of the potatoes. Spread all the cheese over the top of the potatoes and place dish on top of a cookie sheet, in case of a spill over.
Bake for 45-55 minutes or until top is golden brown and bubbly. Let rest for ten minutes before serving.
