Creamy Potato Gratin

When I set my goal of avoiding fried foods, I didn't realize that I would be limiting almost all my meals. I didn't realize that I had been eating a lot of fried dishes for almost every meal. So, to overcome the challenge, I decided to try out new dishes.

Recently, I've been craving for baked potatoes, so I bought four large potatoes. But when I tried looking for a recipe, most of them had bacon in them, which I'm also trying to limit since it has a lot of fat in it. For a few minutes, I was worried that I bought the large potatoes for nothing. Then I remembered that there used to be this small Italian fast food restaurant, called Big Apple, in front of our university. My friends and I loved their pizzas, and I most especially loved their potato gratin.

And so, I started searching for recipes to try out for a creamy potato gratin. In the end, I had to alter some of the recipes I found since I wanted my dish to focus more on the potatoes, and I also didn't like onions in my potato gratin.

Here's what I came up with:

CREAMY POTATO GRATIN: Makes 6 servings

Equipment:
Non-stick square baking pan (8x8)

Ingredients:
2 lb potatoes, washed, peeled and sliced
Butter
Garlic, lots of it
1 can (300g) all purpose cream
McCormick Creamy Garlic Perfect Pasta Sauce Mix (optional)
Salt and Pepper
Parmesan and Cheddar or Mozzarella cheese

After you have washed, peeled and sliced your potatoes, keep them in a bowl of water so that they won't turn brown while you prepare the sauce. Preheat your oven to 325F.

Now for the sauce. First, butter a pan over low heat.

When butter has melted, add the garlic and saute until golden brown.

Add the all purpose cream, sauce mix if being used, salt and pepper, and mix well.

When mixture starts to simmer, add potatoes and allow to cook until sauce starts to simmer again.

Pour the potatoes and the creamy mixture onto the square non-stick pan. Top with cheese. For better results, use fresh parmesan, cheddar or mozzarella cheese.

Place into oven and bake for 40-50 minutes or until potatoes are tender and cheese had melted. I made a mistake of leaving mine on for an hour since I forgot to take into account that I used less potatoes compare to the recipes I found. And so, I ended up with a little burnt cheese on top since I used the dried and grated cheese, but my potatoes were still perfectly tender.

If you're not going to eat all of it right away, wait for the dish to cool completely, before covering and placing in the refrigerator. It can be reheated in the microwave for 2-3 minutes. 

Happy eating!