To get started I really have to say that the food in this photo looks realllllly good! Along with that, I also have to say that it tasted at least as good as it looks in the photo. I also think the French name, Gratin Savoyard, sounds much much better than the boring English name of "Scalloped Potatoes with Meat Stock and Cheese." Mmmmmmm, doesn't that sound yummy? Not. I'd much prefer to be eating some Gratin Savoyard, thank you very much.
You may recall reading an earlier post about Gratin Daphinoise. Now its time to introduce you to Daphinoise's close cousin -- Gratin Savoyard. You see, to make Gratin Daphinoise you simply do the same recipe except you substitute beef bouillon for milk. I didn't think it was going to be anything to get too excited about but this was actually one of my favorite things I've made so far (and also the most photogenic). Because the broth was used instead of milk it also wasn't quite as rich (in spite of using an extra 2 tablespoons of butter to make of for the lack of milk!) and the cheese flavor came through quite nicely.
Speaking of cheese... One comment made by certain family members, who now find them on probation as my sous chefs due to their comments, was that they wished it had more cheese so that it would be gooeyer. Gooeyer -- that means more gooey. Nothing to do with Gruyere cheese. Well, it actually does have a little to do with it since I used Gruyere cheese in this recipe and they were commenting on wanting more of it to make it gooeyer Gruyere but that's beside the point. The reason their comment was such a travesty was that, according to Julia, French cooking does not use so much cheese in a recipe that it becomes stringy and stretches out a couple of feet from the spoon to the dish when you try to take a bite. There is a fine line regarding the amount of cheese used, however. You see, at the beginning of the master recipe (Gratin Daphinois) Julia does tell us "although some authorities on le vrai gratin dauphinois would violently disagree, you may omit the cheese." Violently disagree? Really? It would seem that perhaps the French should pick their battles a bit more carefully.
Since I was able to use food technology to prepare this meal, I really enjoyed preparing it. Peeling potatoes is no problem, I've been doing that since I was a little guy and can outpeel most of my family members. Being able to use the food processor reduced the slicing to just a couple of minutes. On top of that, the mandolin let me grate the cheese (remember my earlier post about not having a cheese grater? Now I didn't need to borrow one!). I could just call it a grater but you have to admit that "mandolin" sounds much much more sophisticated. After all, French cooking is all about being sophisticated.
Not really much to write about regarding the actual recipe -- layer of sliced potatoes, cheese, melted butter and then repeat. On top of the final layer the hot beef bouillon is poured and then its baked until it looks like the photo. Good stuff, it'll definitely be made again.
Bon Appetit!
Make it again please.