Nosh: I would step over my own mother for this gratin

I would step over my own mother for this gratin

Be forewarned. I'm pretty excited about the gratin. (sorry Mom)

So you've had gratin before...what's the biggie, right? Well. If I could only describe to you the intensity of this gratin in words, this gratin that I dreamed up last night, to which I (thankfully) jotted down the ingredients because I knew if you could have tasted it you would have begged me on your knees to know HOW, HOW did it happen???

The wonderful aroma that drifted through the apartment was the first clue. It was the kind of aroma that draws you into the kitchen over and over to say, "hey, that smells pretty good, doesn't it?" while peeking curiously into the oven. Certainly that aroma can't be emanating from my gratin, can it?

My eyes grew wide as I took my first bite. Eyebrows raised. I looked at Chris -- he hadn't tasted his yet, he was unaware of what was about to happen. He was still fussing with his chicory salad. I watched him as he took a bite, then another, and another. He looked up at me and the Mmmmmmms began, the oh, this is really goods, the this is excellent, and when he started on the did you write this down?s, I knew this indeed was something extraordinary.

This gratin of potatoes and fennel will put me on the map when I open my little restaurant someday. It is heavenly. Please try it. It will change your life. (OK, maybe it won't change your life but it will inspire you and you'll be running around cooking gratins before you know it).

Gratin of Potatoes and Fennel

Using a mandolin or similar device to create very thin slices of potato is key to this recipe. If you don't have one, slice the potatoes as thin as possible and adjust the cooking time. Also, you can substitute ground nutmeg for the ground clove but I really recommend trying clove -- it pushed this dish over the top.

Ingredients:

900 grams or about 2 lbs medium-size potatoes (about 10);
1 head fennel, fronds reserved;
4 cloves of garlic, chopped;
ground clove (nelken);
block of parmesan;
200 grams (1 1/4 cup) heavy cream (or substitute half & half or fat-free half&half);
Milk (I used 1% fat);
coarse salt, fresh pepper.

Method:

Preheat oven to 200 C/400 F.

Peel and thinly slice the potatoes with a mandolin. In a separate bowl, thinly slice the fennel using the mandolin as well.

Spread a layer of potatoes in a gratin dish. Sprinkle about 1/4 of the fennel on top along with 1/4 of the garlic. Season with salt, pepper, and a sprinkling of clove powder. Coat the layer with 1/4 of the cream. Grate a nice amount of parmesan over the layer. Repeat this three times.

Cover the last filled layer with the remaining potato. Use the milk to wet and coat the top layer. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, clove, and grate a larger amount of parmesan over (to taste). Chop reserved fennel fronds and sprinkle on top, reserving a bit for garnish.

Place on a rack in the center of your oven. After baking for about 35 minutes (when it starts to turn golden brown), reduce the heat to 180 C/350 F. Cover with silver foil and bake for an additional 25 minutes. Remove foil and continue baking for 10 -15 additional minutes (it will look like this).

Serves 4. Enjoy!

PS: My baking dish is strangely 8x11" -- any dish that is roughly this size will be fine.