Here is one of my all time favorite potato recipes, although I have never met a potato I didn’t like! But, these are special – tender, cheesy, crusty brown top…sigh. Complete comfort food. The friend who gave me this recipe was as crazy about potatoes as I am. We used to joke and say we were going to have a seven course potato dinner party and we would be the only two guests. Fun!! Now don’t faint when I tell you the ingredients. You won’t be making them every week (I hope) just when you want something special and completely nurturing. Again, this is a recipe I will have to walk you through – it’s simple (only 3 ingredients) but the procedure needs to be precise. So here goes… 

Au Gratin Potatoes

3-4 large Idaho baking potatoes; thinly sliced
1 large carton of whipping cream (!!) don’t worry – you’re not going to use it all
3-4 cups of shredded cheddar cheese
s & p

Preheat oven to 325*

Layer thinly sliced potatoes in a shallow (rather than deep – you want lots of crusty brown surface…trust me) baking dish alternating with shredded cheese. So in other words… a layer of overlapping potatoe slices, lightly salt and pepper them, cover liberally with shredded cheddar cheese and repeat until you have used all the potato slices. You should have 3 layers maybe more. Then slowly pour the whipping cream over the potatoes. Give the cream time to settle. Ideally the cream should settle in at 3/4 of the way up the baking dish. You don’t want the potatoes submerged.

Put the casserole in the preheated oven on the middle rack. This is the important part…check to see how they are doing after 15 minutes. The cream should just be slowly plopping, not rapidly bubbling – if it is, turn the oven down to 300* and check again in 15 minutes. The reason for this is simple…the cheese and cream will end up curdling, which you don’t want. Now, it will take 1 1/2 – 2 hours for the potatoes to absorb the cream and become browned and crusty, so plan accordingly. I know it seems like a long time to wait, but you will be well rewarded for your patience. Wait til you see them..gorgeous! Wait til you taste them..delicious! I feel like running into the kitchen and whipping up a batch right now!