This classic French dish is the perfect way to impress everyone at the holiday dinner. In this video, Nicole shows you how to make creamy potatoes au gratin with a buttery taste and melty texture. Using thinly sliced russet potatoes smothered in a thickened homemade cheese sauce, this comforting and indulgent dish bakes in the oven until bubbly. For any special occasion, whether it’s Thanksgiving dinner or a date night, potatoes au gratin will steal the show.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00 I'm throwing it back with a good old classic,
00:01 steamy, dreamy, creamy au gratin potatoes.
00:05 Besides the potatoes, the key component
00:07 to potatoes au gratin is the cheese sauce.
00:10 A lot of classic recipes call for Gruyere or Swiss.
00:12 This recipe calls for cheddar cheese.
00:14 I'm using a sharp white cheddar
00:17 because I like to keep that kind of creamy white color.
00:19 And you have to grate your own cheese, okay?
00:22 You get more cheese out of it,
00:23 it melts better, it tastes better.
00:26 That's what you gotta do.
00:27 Let's make the sauce.
00:28 For sure, you have seen me make a cheese sauce before,
00:30 but let's review.
00:31 We start by melting our butter.
00:33 Once my butter's melted, I'm gonna go in with my flour
00:35 and I'm gonna stir that around until it's nice and smooth.
00:38 You'll know how thick the sauce is gonna be
00:39 once it comes to a boil.
00:41 And then go in with your milk.
00:42 Whisk while you add your milk to prevent any clumps.
00:45 Once everything's incorporated together,
00:47 you're gonna bring this mixture up to a boil.
00:49 That's how you'll see how thick it's gonna be.
00:51 It's coating that spoon really well.
00:54 Turn it down and then just stir in the cheese.
00:56 It only takes about 30 seconds for the cheese to melt
00:59 and then you've got this rich, velvety cheese sauce.
01:01 For the potato in this dish,
01:03 I prefer to use a russet potato
01:04 because I like the extra starchiness.
01:06 That's gonna help the cream sauce kinda stay extra thick.
01:09 And if you have one,
01:10 this is a great time to break out the mandolin.
01:13 You do not have to have this.
01:14 You can just thinly slice with a knife.
01:17 And if you can't get your slices that thin,
01:18 that's also okay.
01:20 Just add a little time to the cook time.
01:22 I'm gonna put it on a really thin setting
01:24 and just start slicing.
01:25 I'm leaving the peel on.
01:27 You can take it off if you want.
01:29 I like the rustic look of it.
01:30 Before we layer, we gotta butter.
01:32 Just coat the bottom and the sides with some softened butter.
01:36 So now we're going to layer it all in together.
01:38 So you're going to do potatoes with a little salt and pepper,
01:42 some thinly sliced onion, more potatoes,
01:44 more salt and pepper, and then our sauce.
01:46 It looks like a lot,
01:47 but it's gonna seep down into those crevices
01:50 between the potatoes.
01:51 This now gets covered with foil to bake.
01:53 I'm gonna just coat the foil a little bit
01:56 with some cooking spray just to prevent some sticking.
01:58 And then this goes into a 400 degree oven,
02:00 covered for at least an hour or until it's really bubbly.
02:03 Just before it's done, I'm gonna uncover it
02:05 and turn the broiler on
02:06 so it gives it that nice au gratin look.
02:09 This right here is what you want on your dining room table.
02:12 You have to let this sit and kind of come together.
02:14 The sauce is gonna thicken just a little bit more
02:17 as it sits.
02:18 I'm gonna serve it up with some steak and salad.
02:20 It's gonna be a good day.
02:21 Just before serving, sprinkle it with a little bit
02:24 of fresh chive to make it look real pretty.
02:27 I'm just so impressed with how these turned out.
02:29 In the past when I've made this,
02:30 sometimes it gets really soupy and milky in the middle.
02:33 The creaminess in this is perfection.
02:36 And so is the taste.
02:40 Wow, that little bit of onion
02:42 almost melts into the potatoes.
02:44 That cheese sauce is perfect.
02:45 It's perfectly seasoned.
02:47 This is so good.
02:48 If you have not tried au gratin potatoes in a while,
02:51 this is the time to do it
02:52 and this is the recipe to do it with.
02:54 Are you waiting on me to do something funny?
02:58 (upbeat music)