I’m not the only one on a Southwestern cuisine food kick. Even Baby Lady got into the act with her take on a french classic, potatoes au gratin. The result was lip smackin’ good, too.
I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like potatoes au gratin. You have potatoes that everybody likes and you add to it the cheese that bakes into that ooey gooey goodness that makes you smile just thinking about it. 🙂 I mean, what is there not to like about potatoes au gratin? People from all walks of life, young and old, and different countries love potatoes au gratin and have their own spin on the dish. I have a friend of mine who figured out potatoes au gratin were the perfect dish in which to hide vegetables from her finicky children until they got older. The potatoes and cheese were simply too much for the children to resist, even if it did have that other funky stuff in it. 😀
Now, au Gratin is nothing new nor is it limited to potatoes. It’s a widespread culinary technique in which an ingredient is topped with a browned crust, often using breadcrumbs, grated cheese, egg and/or butter. It is usually prepared in a shallow dish of some kind and baked or cooked under a broiler to form a golden crust on top. When done, it is traditionally served in its baking dish. Although potatoes au gratin originated in French cuisine, it is found the world over. There are recipes for potatoes au gratin coupling he potatoes with onions, carrots, avocados, sweet potatoes, spinach, etc. The list goes on seemingly forever. Everyone has their spin on this classic dish so it’s no wonder Baby Lady has her spin on it, too, and the timing could not have been more perfect inasmuch as I had roasted a lot of Hatch green chiles. Next time you’re looking for a side dish with a twist you really need to give this a try. Baby Lady coaxed a whole lot of flavor out of this dish and it was superb. The addition of the fresh corn gave the dish a nice little natural sweetness that complimented the touch of heat from the chiles. All-in-all, I would eat this dish again and again. Good thing we had leftovers so I could and did. 🙂
Ingredients
- 2 russets, peeled and sliced into 1/8 inch slices
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1 cup mexican crema
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- salt & pepper to taste
- 7 roasted Hatch chiles, sliced into strips
- 1 onion sliced
- 1 ear of corn, kernels removed
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled
- 1 lb Muenster cheese
- 1/3 cup diced bacon
Instructions
Place a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the bacon and brown.
Once the bacon has browned, not crisp, add the onion and sauté for 2 minutes.
Now, add the corn and cook 1 minute.
Next, stir in the cumin & oregano. Cook for another 2 minutes.
Take vegetable mix and put in blender with 4 cloves garlic.
Add Mexican crema
Add heavy cream.
blend until smooth
Return mix to skilled over gentle heat and deglaze skillet absorbing all of those fonds of goodness.
Ladle a spoon of gratin liquid into the bottom of the dish and begin arranging potato scallops.
When the bottom layer is full, add chile strips
Next, add grated cheese
Spoon some more cream mix on top
Repeat the process for the second layer, except add the grated cheese after the cream mix.
Place baking dish into a 350 F preheated oven and bake for 1 hour until top is a beautiful golden brown and potatoes are cooked through.
Remove from oven. Serve and enjoy!
REMCooks 
OMG! You’re killing me! I want some now!
Thanks for the nice compliment. 🙂 Unfortunately, I don’t think this would deliver well to California. 😉
I like how she threw everything in the blender, the flavors must’ve been incredible. Lucky you!
You will never hear me say I’m not the luckiest man in the world because when I met and married Baby Lady I became the luckiest man in the world. The flavors were absolutely killer and blending them together was a stroke of brilliance on her part.
That is such a wonderful thing to say! It’s nice that couples can share interests like that. May you both continue to knock each other’s socks off with your awesome cooking! 😀
Bacon, chilli & potatoes are a wonderful combo by any means. One of my favourite ways to do cauliflower is by ‘gratin’ I like the idea of the blitzed cream & veg to add more flavour, no doubt it assists in adding a velvety smoothness to the sauce too!
You are 100% correct about the blitzed cream. It made a beautifully velvety smooth, flavor packed sauce that carried all of the flavors beautifully, especially the corn.
This is cruel. Enticing people with such a lovely dish! 🙂
I hope you enjoyed it. I’ll work on getting those ingredients so I can!
Adieu, scribbler
We’re glad you liked the post 🙂 Baby Lady says to tell you inventions come by pretty regularly around here depending upon what’s in the fridge.
Well then I will be sure to stop by again! 🙂
Adieu, scribbler
This is one good looking dish of potatoes. If you ask me, Baby Lady is one Smart Lady, putting bacon into her au gratin potatoes. Who could resist that? The corn, too, is a nice touch. It’s that “pop” of fresh they bring to any dish. Thanks for sharing a great new twist on an old favorite.
Thanks, John. Baby Lady is tickled you liked her technique. The blending of everything together to form a velvety flavorful sauce was unbelievable. I never thought about doing something like that. Like you said, she is one Smart Lady.
OMG those look SINFULLY rich and delicious! I may have to break down and eat me some potatoes for the holidays this year. 🙂
Thanks for your very nice compliment. Guaranteed these will please a Holiday gathering. Baby Lady says it is definitely worth the carbs and calories.
Great recipe! I made a couple of modifications, I par boiled the potatoes, and used light cream cheese in place of the heavy cream and yogurt in place of the mexican crema and it came out delicious! Thanks, we’ll definitely be trying this again.
Thanks for dropping by and letting us know you tried it and liked it. 🙂 We like your modifications. They would definitely lighten things up a bit and be a touch healthier.
OMG.I want some nowwwwww
Thanks for the very nice compliment. This is a killer au gratin. 🙂