Recipe: Potatopia's Ultimate Blue Cheese Potato Au Gratin
From Potatopia founder Allen Dikker:
Blue cheese holds a special place in my heart for its unique and robust flavor. But I know not everyone loves the pungent delicacy as much as I do. For those of you on that side of the fence, this recipe just might change your mind. There’s just enough blue cheese in the creamy dish, but not enough to overpower the whole thing, and a little arbol chiles spice things up a bit. I prefer a smoked blue cheese, which actually has less pungency and more earthiness in flavor than traditional blue cheese.
Ultimate Blue Cheese Potato Au Gratin
Courtesy of Potatopia
Serves 8-10
Ingredients:
2 large russet potatoes
1 cup whole milk
3 strips thick cut bacon
3/4 cup cream
1 small onion, chopped
3 dried Arbol chiles (optional)
1-1/2 teaspoons each: salt and fresh ground black pepper, divided
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3/4 cup shredded Gruyere cheese
1 cup crumbled blue cheese or smoked blue cheese, divided
Sliced scallions, for garnish
Instructions:
Heat the oven to 375°F.
Use a mandolin to slice the potatoes 3mm thick (potato chip size) and place in cold water to remove starch. Drain well into a colander and rinse with cold water. Let stand in the colander to dry.
Place the bacon strips on a small baking pan and bake for about 10 min or until crisp. Transfer to a paper towel and set aside.
For the blue cheese sauce, in a saucepan over low heat, add the milk, cream, onion, chiles, 1/2 cup of blue cheese 1/2 teaspoon of the salt and pepper, and chili powder.
Whisk and bring to a simmer and cook 5 minutes. Strain into a bowl and discard the ingredients in the strainer.
In the same saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk until combined. Cook the flour mixture for 1 minute. Add the strained milk mixture, and the Gruyere cheese and stir until the cheese is melted.
In a 12-inch oval baking dish or an 8-inch square. Rub the bottom of the dish with additional butter. Layer 1/3 of the potatoes by overlapping in the dish and season with salt and pepper, add 1/3 of the cheese sauce, repeating the layers use a rubber spatula to spread it, and continue until all the potatoes are gone. Make sure that the cheese sauce is on top over the potatoes. Sprinkle remaining blue cheese crumbles over the top. Bake 45 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
When potatoes are tender remove from the oven and crumble the remaining ½ cup blue cheese over the top. Return to the oven and bake to just melt the cheese, 3 to 5 minutes.
Remove from the oven and let stand for 5 minutes. Chop the bacon and garnish with the bacon crumbles and scallions.
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