November 28, 2023

Potatoes and cheese make excellent culinary partners. I adore potatoes with cheese and plenty of cheese with my potatoes. This much is true : you can always back off on the cheese, but keep the potatoes steady and plentiful.

Everyone smiles at the holiday table when you bring out the cheesy potatoes. Notably, holiday grinches will grumble and complain. Make certain they have heaps of salad. As mentioned above, you may decrease the white cheddar and still have a fabulously creamy side. Sweet potatoes will likely be a fine substitute. Veganize the gratin with your favorite plant based cheese and use vegetable stock instead of chicken.

Cooking for those you love involves versatility and good humor. The really accomplished cook improvises and riffs on the basic recipe to suit the tastes of the tasters.

Double cheesy potato gratin graced these pages a while ago and today’s recipe lightens the cream factor with cornstarch thickened apple cider.

Here is a tip regarding apple cider. You buy a half gallon jug and within two weeks you see evidence of fermentation. The bottle bulges and the taste is off. Unless you put your cider to good use frequently, purchase unfiltered apple juice instead. Once opened, it lasts for weeks in the fridge and performs like cider.

Have fun with this easy cheesy potato side. It makes the holidays bright and brings smiles all the year long.

the creaminess comes from thickened stock and cider – no cream !

White Cheddar Cider Potato Gratin

recipe by Michele Humlan, The Good Eats Company

makes 8-10 servings

ingredients

2 ¼ pounds yellow or red potatoes, peeled and sliced thinly
kosher salt
8 ounces white cheddar, grated by hand
¾ cup chicken or vegetable stock
1 cup apple cider or unfiltered apple juice*
2 tablespoons cornstarch
* use unfiltered apple juice (nice and murky) if no cider

directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Whisk together stock, cornstarch and cider or juice.
3. Place half the potatoes in a greased 8-9 inch square baking dish.
4. Sprinkle with kosher salt and scatter half the cheese.
5. Add the remainder of the potatoes, overlapping the slices.
6. More kosher salt to the top and then pour over the cider mixture.
7. Cover with foil and in about one half hour, uncover and use spoon or spatula to lightly tamp down the potatoes.
8. Re-cover with the foil and bake another half hour until potatoes are knife tender.
9. Remove foil, lightly scatter rest of cheddar (don’t tamp down – some cheese will sink but you are aiming for a light cheese “roof”).
10. Bake another 10 minutes until cheese is brown in spots.
11. Allow potato gratin to settle about 10-20 minutes before serving, to set.
12. May be made one day ahead and reheated at 350 for 25-30 minutes.