Well call me Jamie Child. Or not. But I did successfully recreate a French recipe by the famous Julia Child.
My mom gave me Mastering the Art of French Cooking shortly after we watched the movie Julie & Julia. I was nervous that these real-deal French recipes would be too complicated so I stuck with Ina and Giada for a while. But then we got word of Julia Child’s amazing potato recipe from a family friend and went digging in the book until we found the right one.
There were about 8 recipes for Scalloped Potatoes/Potatoes au Gratin/Pommes de Terre. We finally figured out which one my mom was looking for on page 523: Gratin Dauphinois [Scalloped Potatoes with Milk, Cheese, and a Pinch of Garlic].
For this dish, I used Gruyere cheese. In baked dishes with cheese, Gruyere really makes a difference (something we learned through Ina Garten’s Mac and Cheese).
Here we go:
Wash and peel 2 pounds of potatoes. (We struggled with which type of potatoes to use, but our research showed for a gratin, the type of potato does not matter much. We settled on Yukon and they cooked perfectly.)
Slice potatoes thin and put in a water bath until ready to use. (We tried slicing them in the food processor, but they ended up getting too chopped up instead of clean slices. Depending on your machine, slicing by hand may be best.)
Cut a glove of garlic and rub the inside of a shallow backing dish. Then, grease dish with 1 Tb butter. Pat potatoes dry with towel and arrange half the potatoes in baking dish.
Divide over them half the salt, pepper, cheese, and butter. Arrange the remaining potatoes over the first layer, and season with remaining salt, pepper, cheese, and butter.
Pour on the boiling milk.
Set baking dish over stove and heat. When simmering, set in upper third of preheated oven.
Bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until potatoes are tender, milk has been absorbed and the top is nicely browned.
And enjoy!
Gratin Dauphinois
Julia Child's Potatoes au Gratin "Dauphinois"
Ingredients
- 2 lbs. potatoes
- 1/2 clove unpeeled garlic
- 4 Tb butter
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp pepper
- 1 cup (4 oz.) grated Swiss Gruyere cheese
- 1 cup boiling milk
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
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Peel the potatoes and slice them 1/8 inch thick. Place in a basin of cold water. Drain when ready to use.
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Rub the baking dish with the cut garlic. Smear the inside of the dish with 1 tablespoon of the butter.
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Drain the potatoes and dry them in a towel. Spread half of them in the bottom of the dish. Divide over them half the salt, pepper, cheese, and butter. Arrange the remaining potatoes over the first layer, and season them. Spread on the rest of the cheese and divide the butter over it.
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Pour on the boiling milk. Set baking dish over heat and when simmering, set in upper third of preheated oven.
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Bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until potatoes are tender, milk has been absorbed and the top is nicely browned.
Recipe Notes
Make sure potatoes are very dry before adding to baking dish or they will not properly absorb the cheese and flavors.
Julia's Notes: May wait for half an hour, loosely covered, over simmering water. For a longer wait, stop initial cooking just before all milk has evaporated. Set aside uncovered. Shortly before serving, dot with 2 Tb butter, reheat on top of stove, and set in a 425-degree oven for 5 to 10 minutes to finish cooking.
We made this for our dinner club last Saturday where everyone had to make a Julia Child dish, and it was FABULOUS! Worth the effort. Only thing we were unsure of was what kind of baking dish to use – we ended up using one that was pretty (with ceramic handles) but perhaps a bit too deep, a shallower dish might have been better. But nothing could have made it taste better, everyone loved it!
So glad to hear it!!! I typically use Le Creuset for baking dishes like this (I’m a bit obsessed with their products), but the dish I had was too big so I used a regular oval, shallow ceramic dish. It will make some difference in the way it cooks. Happy to hear yours was delicious! 🙂
can I skip the stove top step and just go to the oven? I only have a large cast iron Dutch oven that I can use stove top.
I am cooking for 10….would doubling this recipe be enough?
Hi Mary! I’m sure you could skip the stovetop portion and just go to the oven, although a Dutch oven should go from stove to oven easily since it’s made for both! I think for 10 people doubling would be more than enough! Just make sure your dish is big enough to spread them thin so it cooks evenly throughout. Or, make 2 separate pans. Good luck!
How many servings?
Hi Dorene! This makes a full casserole dish, so about 6-8 servings.
I DO A POTATO AND CREAM GRATIN,,BUT I SIMMER THE POTATO,,CREAM,,SOME MILK PLENTY OF HARD CHEESE FIRST FOR ABOUT 10 MINS…POUR INTO OVEN PROOF SHALLOW DISH AND BAKE FOR 20 MINS,,COMING OUT OF THE OVEN BUBBLING ….COOL SLIGHTLY…..AND SERVE……
Gruyere is a swiss cheese..
How many adults does this recipe serve?
Thanks.
Hi Susan – about 8 servings! Although I’ve made it where 6 people finish the dish easily!
I plan on using this recipe for a family get-together (and yes, I have the two volumes of Mastering The Art of French Cooking), but nowhere does it mention the number of servings. If it is eight?, If so, I will need to up it by one half to serve twelve.
Is it eight, ten, or twelve servings?
Hi Liz – It makes about 8 servings, but can easily feed 6-10. If your family doesn’t mind leftovers, I’d recommend doubling it for a group of 12!
Can any of this be prepared the day before?
Sure! You could definitely prepare the potatoes the day before. I’ve never tried making the whole thing ahead of time, but I’m sure it would work fine! Leftovers the next day have always been great!
Can I easily double or triple this recipe for a larger crowd? If so, would the cooking time be longer?
Definitely! It just may need to cook a little longer so I’d recommend just checking on it after the 30 minutes to make sure it’s done and the potatoes are tender.
Could you make it more clear. In step 3 about placing the dish over heat. Is that over a double boiler then wait till the potatoes are simmering before baking?
Hi Brenda – Nope, I literally took the whole baking dish and placed it on the burner, heating until you can see the milk start to simmer.
Could you make ahead of time, refrigerate overnight and bake the next day?
You definitely could make it ahead!
Did you use whole milk, or 2 percent or skim? Thanks.
You can use any milk. Although I do think milk with a little bit of fat gives it a little better consistency with the cheese!
I used half and half, plus evaporated milk. Worked great.
Could I use Parmesan cheese?
Hi Barbara! Parmesan probably won’t get you the creaminess that the gruyere cheese does (which can easily be swapped for regular swiss which is much cheaper and easier to find). If you don’t like swiss I would use a white cheddar so you still get that cheesy sauce! You can always add parmesan in as an EXTRA ingredient – you can never have too much cheese!
Hey there! I tried this for Easter dinner and attempted to follow the recipe exactly. I baked the dish for the full 30 minutes…
but, alas, the potatoes were browned yet slightly undercooked.
Any suggestions? Cook longer?
Hi Christopher – That’s interesting. Perhaps the potatoes were too thick? Everyone’s oven can vary slightly so it’s possible you may need to cook a bit longer and just keep checking if the potatoes are tender. I also find that electric ovens cook very differently from gas!
Is it 1 cup and 4 oz or is it 4 oz which grated comes out to 1 cup?
The latter – 4 oz which comes out to about 1 cup shredded. Looks like when I updated the digital recipe card the formatting got thrown off. Thanks for catching! I just updated it! 🙂
Thank you!
THANK YOU for not bastardizing the original recipe. So many people share the recipe and claim it’s Julia’s but it isn’t. Use gruyere! Use milk! No thyme! 1/2 clove garlic only!
Glad I could share it! There’s no sense in messing with the Master of French Cooking, so in Julia we trust! 🙂
While these do take longer than 20-30 minutes to cook (mine are done in an hour every time) this recipe deserves 5 stars, not 2. I have made these literally every Saturday during CoVid for the last two years. Everyone loves them! I also add a bit more salt (more like 1.5 tsp total) and sometimes a bit extra milk. I LOVE this recipe, thank you!!! <3
So glad you like it! It seems to be a favorite of Julia’s recipes, and definitely a classic!