Holiday Potatoes

I wish I could take full credit for this recipe, but it was inspired by a chef I used to work with during my restaurant and in-home catering days. Every year, my whole family looks forward to this easy potato au gratin dish. They are a tasty alternative to mashed potatoes that is just as simple to make. I call these my Holiday Potatoes because I reserve making them for this time of year (because I cannot stop eating them)! This is a great go-to side for any gathering or dinner party. Usually, I serve them directly in the dish they bake in, but if you want to plate your guests' dinners, you can use a round cookie cutter to cut prettier individual servings. If I have several dishes to cook, I will make this one a day ahead of time since they keep in the fridge and reheat beautifully. A mandolin and garlic slicer will save you a lot of time prepping this dish, but if you don't have one, slice the potatoes as thin as you can.​

What you need:​​ 
From the pantry/fridge:
5 lbs bag of Russet potatoes
​water
1 quart heavy cream
​3-4 garlic cloves
1 sprig of rosemary 
1.5 tbsp sea salt
1/8 tsp white pepper

​Tools:
measuring spoons
vegetable peeler
mandolin set to 1/8inch
garlic slicer
9x12 baking dish 
3 quart pot
slotted spoon
​round cookie cutter

What you do:​​ (pictures below)

• Turn on the oven to 350F.
• Peel potatoes and rinse them. (If you do not have a mandolin, slice them before heating the cream)
• At the stove, pour the quart of heavy cream into the pot and then turn on the heat to medium-low. Stir often to keep a film from forming on the surface.
• Add the salt, pepper, and sprig of rosemary.
• Add the sliced garlic.
• Continue to stir and watch the cream because after about 15 minutes it will start to foam up and will quickly overflow!
• Once it boils and foams up, turn the heat to the lowest setting, the foam will settle back down.
  
• Remove the sprig of rosemary with your slotted spoon.
• Set the mandolin to 1/8inch thickness and slice the potatoes. I like to place my mandolin over the pot and slice the potatoes directly into the cream.
• Stir the potatoes to make sure they are all covered before transferring them back to the dish.
• Pour them into the baking dish and give it a shake to make sure the potatoes settle evenly into the pan. Press them down to bring any extra liquid to the surface.
• Place the potatoes in the oven to bake for about 30 minutes or until golden brown on top. If you are preparing them a day ahead of time, cook them a little less and reheat them in the oven when you are ready to serve.
• If you plan to cut individual servings, it works better when they are cold. I recommend baking the potatoes a day ahead of when needed and then cutting them after being refrigerated. Individual servings can be reheated in the oven on a sheet pan.