WEEK 15: POTATO GRATIN

Individual Sweet Potato Gratins with Crème Fraîche, Onions, and Bacon

Photography by Sarah Shatz

    BY APARTMENTCOOKER | SERVES 2 AS A SIDE DISH

A&M: Sweet potatoes are often made even more sweet using ingredients like maple syrup, brown sugar, molasses, and even marshmallows. We like that apartmentcooker goes definitively in the other direction by adding bacon, Parmesan, onion, garlic, and a crème fraîche béchamel, while still paying homage to more traditional recipes (she adds a tablespoon of brown sugar to the béchamel, with great results). Thinly sliced sweet potatoes are layered in the baking dish (we used one dish big enough for two rather than individual ones) with béchamel, crisped bacon, and raw onions and garlic, which infuse the gratin with their fragrance.

    4 slices bacon, diced

    ½ cup chopped onion

    1 teaspoon minced garlic

    2 tablespoons unsalted butter

    2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

    1 cup whole milk

    3 tablespoons crème fraîche

    ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

    1 tablespoon light brown sugar

    Salt and freshly ground black pepper

    2 cups thinly sliced sweet potatoes (¹/₈ inch thick)

    G to ½ cup grated Parmesan

1. Lightly grease 2 individual baking dishes (I used ovenproof bowls that hold roughly 1½ cups). Heat the oven to 350°F.
2. In a small sauté pan, cook the bacon over medium heat until crisp. Remove from the heat and toss with the onion and garlic.
3. In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Stir in the flour and cook until the mixture is well combined but still pale. Stir in the milk and crème fraîche.
4. Reduce the heat to low and bring the béchamel to a simmer. Cook until thickened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the nutmeg, brown sugar, salt, and pepper.
5. Layer 4 to 6 slices of sweet potato on the bottom of each of the prepared baking dishes. Top with a few tablespoons of béchamel and a few spoonfuls of the bacon mixture. Repeat with another layer of each. Add one last layer of potatoes and spoon the remaining béchamel over the potatoes. Sprinkle with the grated Parmesan.
6. Bake the gratins until they are bubbly around the edges and cooked through, 15 to 25 minutes.

Photography by Sarah Shatz

    TIPS AND TECHNIQUES

    A sprinkling of Parmesan on top helps with browning, but if you want a little more color, pop the gratins under the broiler for a few minutes at the end.

        We found that 20 to 25 minutes’ baking time was perfect for a two-person baking dish.

        “Individual portions mean I can make a big batch,” apartmentcooker wrote, “and reheat it later as a last-minute side dish.”

        If you’re serving more than two people, you can easily double or triple this recipe.

    ABOUT THE COOK

    Erin Jeanne McDowell is a recent graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. On her blog, The Apartment Kitchen, she writes about leaving the well-equipped kitchens at school behind and cooking in her tiny first apartment.

        Her favorite recipe from a cookbook: “My great-great-great grandma’s sugar cookie recipe. It appeared in the town church cookbook that’s now barely held together by a string.”

    WHAT THE COMMUNITY SAID

    Losangel: “I’ve made this five times already, and now I have friends calling me for the recipe.”