So many versions of potatoes au gratin include cheese that many Americans believe the name of the dish means potatoes with cheese. In fact, the name translates into English as “potatoes in a crust,” and the best rendition of this dish contains no cheese at all. The traditional French potato dish from the Dauphine region, near the Italian border, often referred to as "pommes dauphinoise," “potatoes in the style of someone from the Dauphine,” or “Gratin Dauphinoise,” is simply potatoes – peeled, sliced thin, well-seasoned and baked with cream. A French vegetable slicer, known as a mandoline is a great help in getting the thin slices essential to making the dish successfully.

(Serves 6)

2 tablespoons butter

3 pounds (about 6 medium) Yukon Gold potatoes

3 cups half & half

2 garlic cloves, crushed

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1.) Preheat the oven to 375. Rub a shallow 2-quart baking dish with the butter. 

2.) Slice the potatoes as thin as you can possibly manage; a mandolin really helps. (See headnote.) Pile the sliced potatoes into the buttered baking dish. 

3.) In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the half & half with garlic, salt, pepper and nutmeg and cook until it is steaming hot but do not allow it to boil. Pour the hot cream over the potatoes.

4.) Cover with baker's parchment then aluminum foil and bake the gratin for 40 minutes. 

5.) Remove the parchment and the foil and continue baking until or until the potatoes are very tender and the surface of the dish is delicately browned, about 15 minutes more. The dish may be made ahead up to this point and chilled to be reheated later, or kept warm. Use a biscuit cutter to cut rounds of the gratin; this is easiest if the gratin is chilled.
6.) At service time, heat the rounds until they’re bubbling hot and transfer the rounds to serving plates with an offset spatula.