Your Potatoes

I asked Paula from www.waytenmom.blogspot.com to be my guest for this blog post.  Paula's husband loves to cook and she has agreed to post one of his favorite recipes. The recipe is great for entertaining a crowd or for an evening with family.
Enjoy!

Mince
Mash
Grate
Peel
Simmer
Recruit
Rice
Stir
And stir some more
Beat
Broil
Serve
Phew!
"Your Potatoes" is a code word in our family for " Aligot Gratin with Horseradish Cream". The dish requires all the steps above, and when it was last prepared on Christmas Day it also involved taking photos of a camera-shy cook and a not-so-shy teenaged fan.
My husband promised to "keep it simple" and to keep the workload to a minimum so that is how "your potatoes" worked their way onto the menu. Although that alone decimated the "simple idea",  the family unanimously agreed that it was worth the laborious preparation steps. Even our niece who is the dish's biggest fan, took up the ricer (That's where the "recruit" part of the task list above came in!)

The camera-shy hard at work husband grating the cheese for the gratin

The fruits of the family's labors...May not be a beauty but it tastes awesome!

Note: We may have made it less than beautiful by getting caught up in frenzied Christmas Day chatter and forgetting to rotate it to "ensure even browning"

Aligot Gratin with Horseradish Cream

Adjusted to serve  9

Recipe from: Gourmet 

Ingredients:

3lbs. (9 medium) Yukon gold potatoes

6 garlic cloves

1-1/2 teaspoon salt

4-1/2 tablespoons softened unsalted butter

1 1/8 cups whole milk

7 1/2 cups (1- 1/8 lbs) coarsley grated Cantal or Gruyere cheese

3/4 teaspoon pepper

1 cup chilled heavy cream

2 tablespoons bottled drained horseradish

Directions:

1. Simmer potatoes in salted water until very tender (about 40 minutes). Drain potatoes. Let the potatoes cool and then force through a ricer into a clean saucepan.

2. Mince and mash garlic cloves and salt into a paste.

3. Add the following to the potatoes:

Garlic/salt paste

4 1/2 tablespoons softened unsalted butter

1 1/8 cups whole milk

4. Cook over moderate low heat, stirring, until fluffy and heated through, about 2 minutes.

5. Add cheese

6. Add pepper

7. Stir until cheese is melted, smooth and taffy like, about 10 minutes.

8. Preheat broiler. Transfer potato mixture into buttered baking dish and smooth the top.

9. Using a mixer beat heavy cream and then add the horseradish.

10. Spread the horseradish cream over potato mixture and broil 4-5 inches from top. Rotate mixture to ensure even browining. Takes about 2 minutes.

I encourage you to make your ricer the "implement of the day" and give this side dish a try. It goes well with any grilled or roasted meat.
It also goes well with teenagers. And that's a result that should satisfy any chef.