Potato, Leek and Celeriac Gratin

Ah, gratin. You demon of the side dish world. So full of cream and butter. So unapologetically decadent. So tantalizingly indulgent. We can't resist you. We call you "vegetables" but deep inside we know the ugly truth. We'd likely be better off eating a Big Mac. Still, there you are on our table, beside a rotisseried chicken. Welcome back. Be sure to visit again soon. 

PS You look very nice in your beautiful baking dish! (Thanks, K!)

Potato, Leek and Celeriac Gratin

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1 large branch fresh rosemary

2-3 garlic cloves, peeled

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 leek, halved lengthwise, then thinly sliced

2 medium potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced

1 celeriac (celery root), peeled and thinly sliced

4 ounces grated Gruyere cheese

kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 teaspoons herbs de Provence

Preheat oven to 350. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, heat the cream, rosemary and garlic bubbles start to form along the sides of the pan. Turn off heat and set aside. Melt butter in a small skillet and sweat the leeks, seasoned with a pinch of kosher salt, taking care not to brown them (about 5-6 minutes); set aside. Spray a baking dish with cooking spray. Layer 1/3 of the potato slices, 1/3 of the celeriac slices, 1/3 of the cooked leeks and 1/3 of the gruyere. Season with salt and pepper and continue the process a second and third time. Strain the cream through a fine mesh sieve and pour it into the dish over the vegetables. Sprinkle top with herbs de Provence. Cover dish tightly with foil and bake at 350 for 45 minutes, until bubbly. Remove foil and continue to bake another 15 minutes, until top is golden brown. 

Meatless Monday: Tortilla Española

Amy's coworker Marcy has chickens and sells beautiful large fresh brown eggs. They are so different from store-bought that the $2.50/dozen is an excellent value. We bought some the other day and thought they'd make a great ingredient for Meatless Monday. But what to do? The answer was found in The Best of America's Test Kitchen: Best Recipes and Reviews 2011, on the page featuring Spanish Tortilla, or Tortilla Española.

At its very basic, this "tortilla" is an omelette with potatoes and onions. However, the potatoes are cooked in just the right amount of oil to be tender and melting in your mouth, and the omelet, made with eight fresh eggs, is velvety yet dense enough to cut into cubes or squares. That is what makes this popular at most tapas bars.

We followed many of the tips from ATK, such as, using Yukon Golds ("starchy enough to become tender but sturdy enough to stir and flip in shallow oil without crumbling"), using less oil than traditional recipes ("typical recipes call for simmering potatoes in 3 or 4 cups of extra-virgin olive oil"), making the tortilla in a 10-inch nonstick skillet, and notes on how to flip the tortilla. But, as always, we put our own spin on the recipe. Here's what we did.

Ingredients:

6 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

4 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled, quartered lengthwise, and cut into 1/8-inch slices

1 medium onion, halved and thinly sliced

salt and pepper to taste

8 large eggs

Toss 4 tablespoons of the oil, with the potato, onion, salt and pepper in a large bowl until potatoes are well coated. Heat 2 additional tablespoons of the oil in a 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat until oil is shimmering. Add the potato mixture to the skillet. Cover and cook, stirring with a rubber spatula every 5 minutes, until potatoes are tender, about 25 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk the eggs with about a teaspoon of salt in a bowl until combined. Fold the potato mixture into the eggs, scraping the skillet clean. Add 1/2 tablespoon of oil to the skillet and return it to the heat. When the oil is shimmering, add the egg-potato mixture and cook, folding the mixture and shaking the pan for 15 seconds. Smooth the top, reduce heat to medium, cover and cook for two minutes, gently shaking the pan every 30 seconds. Using a rubber spatula, loosen the tortilla from the skillet, shaking the pan until it slides around freely. Slide the tortilla onto a large plate. Invert the tortilla onto a second large plate and slide it bak into the skillet, browned side up. Continue to cook for two minutes longer, gently shaking the pan every 30 seconds. Slide onto a cutting board and allow to cool. Serve at room temperature with a side salad for a light and simple dinner, or cut into smaller pieces and serve as tapas.

Mom's Chuck Roast

While it's true that there isn't much "gourmet" about mom's chuck roast, it's also true that on long, cold wintery weekdays when we just want to get something in the oven to make the house smell good, this is a go-to dish. With a prep time of, oh, about two minutes, this roast is an easy, delicious, belly-warming meal that reminds us of home. Perfect for a stress-filled workday or a Sunday dinner. Could we fancy it up a bit? We're sure...but we choose not to mess with the original, which is wonderfully comforting. We like it best with mashed potatoes and canned (that's right) baby peas. Judge us all you want.

Ingredients:

1 2-to-3-pound boneless chuck roast

1 packet dry onion soup mix

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can water

Place the roast in a foil-lined roasting pan. Sprinkle the meat with the onion soup mix. Pour in the cream of mushroom soup. Fill the can with water and pour that in as well. Seal the meat inside the foil and roast at 325 for 2-2 1/2 hours. Remove from pan and allow to rest. Pour the remaining liquid into a gravy bowl and serve with mashed potatoes.