Gratin Of Potatoes With Sauerkraut By Foodieu2019s Chef Laura Brennan

SIMPLE AU GRATIN POTATOES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. In a large saucepan, melt butter over low heat. Stir in flour, salt and pepper until smooth. Gradually add milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir 2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat; stir in cheese until melted. Add potatoes and onion., Transfer to a greased 2-qt. baking dish. Cover and bake 1 hour. Uncover; bake 30-40 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. If desired, top with additional pepper.

GRATIN OF POTATOES WITH SAUERKRAUT BY FOODIEU2019S CHEF LAURA BRENNAN

Steps:

• 1 This sauce will be used to spread between the layers of sliced potatoes. The addition of flour will give the sauce some u2018bodyu2019 and keep the finished dish from being too soupy. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat. When completely melted, slide the pan off the heat and add the flour all at once. Whisk until smooth. Add the 3 cups of whatever stock you are using. Whisk thoroughly until all the flour/butter has dissolved into the liquid and is smooth (no lumps). Put the pan back over low-medium heat and stir constantly until the sauce comes to a simmer. Add the dried thyme, caraway seed, dehydrated onion and a pinch of kosher salt along with a few twists of the pepper mill. Let the sauce cook on very low heat for about 10 -15 more minutes. Just at a bare simmer. Keep whisking every couple of minutes to prevent sticking. Taste. Whisk in the teaspoon of Dijon mustard. Taste again. Adjust seasonings. Set aside. (it will thicken more as it cools.) Fold the bacon piece(s) into thirds and cut across the folded bacon, cutting thin 1/8th inch slices. (Cold bacon will slice more easily than warm bacon.) Add to a new sauce pan along with the 2 tablespoons of butter and cook over low heat until bacon has rendered. (I did not render the bacon to the u2018crispyu2019 stage, but this is your preference.)
• 2 Remove pan from heat momentarily. Slice the onion halves across into 1/8th inch thin slices; that is with the grain and NOT into u2018ringsu2019. Add the onions to the bacon-butter pot. Add a pinch of salt and cook the onions until they have softened and begun to caramelize (take on some brown color).
• 3 While the onions are cooking, rinse the kraut under cold running water and use your hands to squeeze out excess water.
• 4 When the onions and bacon have softened and caramelized a bit, add the squeezed kraut to the pot. Stir well to combine. Let cook over medium-low heat for about 5-8 minutes. Taste. It probably wonu2019t need salt, but a little bit of pepper might be a savory addition. Set aside.
• 5 To build the gratin:
• 6 5-7 each or approximately 3 pounds of Yukon Gold potatoes (on the larger side), washed & dried
• 7 Kosher salt
• 8 your pepper mill with black peppercorns
• 9 Gratin dish: I used a 9x13 inch dish (ovenproof)
• 10 1 tablespoon softened butter (salted or unsalted)
• 11 Slice the potatoes by hand as thinly as you can. I used a plastic Japanese vegetable slicer which yielded consistent thin slices. Donu2019t fret, you can the slice potatoes by hand. It is helpful to slice a small piece off the bottom of each potato to give you a flat surface. This prevents the potato from u2018rockinu2019 and rollinu2019 as you are slicing it. (Youu2019ll have more control over your slice.)
• 12 Liberally butter your baking/gratin dish. Begin by laying down slices of potatoes along the bottom of the dish. Overlap each piece slightly. Sprinkle lightly with a bit of salt and freshly ground pepper. Spoon a couple of tablespoons of the prepared sauce over this layer, being careful to not disturb the layer of potatoes. Add a second layer of potatoes over the first layer. Repeat with salt, pepper and a few tablespoons of the reserved sauce spooned gently over the potatoes again.
• 13 Spoon the reserved onion-cabbage mix over these potatoes. (This is the third layeru2014the u2018fillingu2019.)
• 14 Spread the kraut-onion-mixture carefully over the potatoes. Again, trying to not disturb the layers of potatoes underneath.

SAUERKRAUT AU GRATIN

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
• In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Stir in the flour, salt, pepper, dry mustard and Worcestershire sauce. Slowly add the milk and cook, stirring constantly, until thickened. Stir in 1 cup cheese and the sauerkraut.
• Transfer to a 1 1/2-quart casserole. Mix the remaining 1/2 cup cheese with the bread crumbs and sprinkle over the top. Bake in the center of the oven about 30 minutes or until hot, bubbly and the topping is lightly browned.

SAUERKRAUT & POTATOES

Steps:

• Place the sauerkraut in a pan. Push the potatoes into the sauerkraut.
• Sprinkle over the onion and apple pepper and dot with butter. Add water.
• Bring to the boil and then turn down heat and simmer gently until potatoes are cooked. About 30-40 minutes Check liquid level making sure it doesn't catch. Serve.