Creamy Au Gratin Potatoes
Ingredients
- 1 onion Quartered and sliced
- 2 cups Grated cheddar cheese European cheese, not that shit American oil slick processed crap
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1.5 tsp table salt divided in to three half-teaspoon portions
- 0.5 tsp pepper
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter Divided in to 1 tbsp, 1tbsp, 2tbsp
- 1 Kg russet potatoes sliced in to 1/8" (3mm) slices
- 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
Servings:
Units:
Instructions
Cheese Sauce
- Place a saucepan over medium heat
- Melt butter in saucepan
- Throw in the salt
- Mix in the flour
- Stir constantly for about a minute until butter is absorded and flour/butter granules start turning golden colour
- Stir in the milk
- Cook until mixture has thickened. DO NOT let the milk boil over.
- Slowly pour in the grated cheese giving giving it chance to melt as it hits the milk
- Continue to stir until all cheese has melted, about a minute
- Let the cheese sauce cool a little, which will thicken up the sauce
Onions (grilled method)
- Cut and peel onion in to quarters then in to 1/8" (3mm) thick slices
- Heat oil & butter in a skillet over a low-medium heat
- Place onions in skillet
- Grill over a low-medium heat for about 20 minutes until onions are just turning brown
Onions (alternative microwave method)
- Cut and peel onion in to quarters then in to 1/8" (3mm) thick slices
- Put onions in a microwave safe dish
- Microwave on high for 3 minutes
- Microwave until onions have softened
Potatoes
- Peel and slice the potatoes in to 1/8" (3mm) slices
- Soak the potatoes in cold water for about 5 minutes to remove the surface starch
- Pour off the cold, starchy water
- Separate the potatoes slices in to a microwave safe dish with a tight fitting lid
- Pre-heat oven to 400F / 200C
- Microwave potatoes on medium power for about 12 minutes
- Let the potatoes sit, with the lid on (DO NOT REMOVE THE LID) for about 5 minutes to finish steaming
- Butter up a cast iron skillet or casserole dish
- Layer 1/3rd of the potatoes in to the bottom of the prepared casserole dish
- Top with 1/2 of the onions (grilled or raw)
- Add another layer of potatoes
- Top with the remaining 1/2 of the onions
- Season by sprinkling over salt & pepper to taste (about 1 tsp of fine salt, about 1/2 tsp of pepper)
- Add the final layer of potatoes
- Pour over the cheese sauce
- Cover the skillet or casserole dish with aluminium foil
- Bake on middle rack at 400F (200C) for about 20 minutes, until the top is golden brown and bubbling
Recipe Notes
You can cook this in a 1 quart casserole dish or a cast iron skillet. I prefer the skillet method myself.
If you cooked the onions in the same skillet you are going to cook the cheesey potatoes in, then you don't need to butter the dish quite so much, and you don't need to the clean the skillet out. Remove the onions from the skillet and then layer the potatoes and onions back in as you normally would.
I generally use whatever cheese remnants I have in the refrigerator, which usually consists of Kerrygold Dubliner, English Coastal, Parmesan, Welsh Collier's, and so forth.
You can bake the potato dish uncovered but keep an eye on the browning. If you find the dish is browning too quickly, reduce the oven temperature to just 350F/175C