This Julia Child’s Potato Gratin Savoyard is the ultimate scalloped potatoes recipe. It’s from her volume 1 cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and is a variation on her amazing Gratin Dauphinois recipe, another one of my favorite that I make every Christmas. Gratin Dauphinois is basically layers of scalloped potato, cream and swiss cheese with a delicious crunchy golden cheese crust. For this recipe, the cream is replaced by beef broth making it a lot lighter but just as irresistible. It’s comfort food at its best, as comforting as a warm sweater on a cold day! And a great make-ahead side dish for a crowd, something to think about with the upcoming Holiday season.
The recipe calls for Swiss cheese which is the generic name for several varieties of cheese originally from Switzerland. You can use Emmental but my ultimate favorite is undoubtedly Gruyère. There is really something special about the smell and taste of melted gruyère, just thinking about it makes me very, very hungry.
As Julia might say, Bon appétit!
- 2 lb boiling potatoes
- ½ clove unpeeled garlic
- 6 Tb butter
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 cup grated swiss cheese, emmental or gruyère
- 1 cup beef broth
- Preheat oven to 425°F with a rack in upper third of oven.
- Peel potatoes and thinly cut into ⅛ inch thick slices, using slicer if desired. Transfer to a bowl with cold water, and drain when ready to use.
- Rub the baking dish with the cut garlic. Smear the inside of the dish with 1 Tbsp butter.
- Drain potatoes and dry in a paper towel.
- In a small saucepan, bring beef broth to a boil.
- In the meantime, spread half of potatoes in the bottom of baking dish. Divide over them, half the salt, pepper, cheese and butter.
- Arrange remaining potatoes over the first layer, and season them.
- Pour boiled broth over mixture. Sprinkle remaining ½ cup cheese over mixture and dot with butter.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until potatoes are tender, broth has been absorbed and the top is nicely browned.
If you love gruyère cheese, try my Coquille St.-Jacques.
Coquille St-Jacques is a classic French dish. Delicate scallops, shrimp and mushrooms in a rich gruyere and white wine sauce topped with breadcrumbs and broiled until golden and bubbling. Délicieux!
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