Easy-Peasy Potato Gratin

I finally had to face it. Potatoes were taking over our kitchen. Red, russet, white and waxy. We'd been receiving a few every week in the farmshare, but I just hadn't had the heart to turn the oven on. You see, our old apartment was on the third floor. The kitchen had a minuscule window that barely opened. The ceiling fan made feeble attempts to cool things off. It just wasn't an appealing thought: sweating over the stove to make mashed potatoes just to sit down, continue sweating, and eat them. No thanks.

Cue: new apartment! Big windows! Nice, new kitchen! FIRST FLOOR BREEZE! The potatoes no longer seemed like a threat, but an opportunity. I love me a good bowl of mashed potatoes, but I wanted to do something else. Like I always do when I want to steer away from my favorite recipes, I consulted Mark Bittman's brilliant book, How to Cook Everything. It's not kidding. I could spend hours with that thing. I found a sublimely simple recipe for a potato gratin. Here is my adapted version:

Ingredients

Potatoes: 4-5 large, any kind you like (I used several kinds)

About a cup of good cheese. I used Jarlsburg.

Whatever dried herbs you like. I used rosemary and a fines herbes blend.

Warmed cream or milk (or combination), enough to come 3/4 of the way up to the top potato layer.

Salt and pepper.

Directions

Preheat over to 375 degrees. Scrub potatoes and thinly slice. I use a mandoline to get uniform slices. In a 9 x 13 in. oven-safe pan, place down one layer of potatoes, overlapping slightly. Lightly salt and pepper this layer. Sprinkle a handful of grated cheese over the layer and then gently sprinkle on spices. Repeat the layering of potatoes, salt and pepper, cheese and herbs until everything has been put in place. Gently pour the warmed cream or milk into the side of the pan until it barely reaches 3/4 of the way up to the top potato layer. Bake approximately 45 minutes until top is lightly browned and a knife can easily pierce the potatoes. Enjoy!

Ingredients

First layer of potatoes, cheese, herbs and salt and pepper.

Browned cheesy, creamy, potato-y goodness!

Settling In

Well, here we are! We are in our new place (thanks to the moving help of some amazing friends) partially unpacked and surrounded by a sea of boxes. I have pretty much unpacked the kitchen (of course!), because that was the first thing I needed to get back to a feeling or normalcy. I've missed cooking in the past couple of weeks as we have prepared for the move. It's been a lot of pizza and Groupon meals, which has been lovely, but I am ready to get cooking again.

We received albino currants in last week's share, and I decided to put some currant jelly on the stove while I unpacked. I've never made jelly before, but I decided to throw some ingredients together and see what happens. I will post results later this week. In the meantime, a shot of the lovely little currants:

Albino Currants

The Big Move

Devin and I moved in together last summer. I had worked for over two years at the New Britain Museum of American Art in CT and was ready for a change of scenery. He had just been accepted to the Kennedy School and was making the move from the 'burbs closer to school. After a little over a year of dating from 2 hours away (and racking up thousands of miles on our cars, not to mention thousands of minutes on our cell phone bill!), we decided to take the plunge and make the move together. We ended up living with a friend for a year, but now that was are headed down the aisle, we decided it was time for it to be just the two of us (well...and George and Grif, our two cats.)

So we are making the move today...we are staying in our same neighborhood, the bustling Davis Sq. in Somerville. We love it because we are so close to my work and Devin's school without feeling cramped and crowded in the city. Our new place has a little porch and backyard, is about a block away from our cupcake store/CSA pick-up, and has a big kitchen. What more could we want?

Over the next few days, we will be cleaning, painting, and slowly setting up our new home. And then I'll be back in the kitchen!