Riley Marie’s Potato Gratin with Feta and Herbs

Herein you will find my entry for the Potato Ho-Down, brain child of Cathy and Krysta. This is our venerated mascot, the lovely Miss Potato Ho herself There is still time to blog a potato recipe – the rules are here at Krysta’s blog – the host for this month.

Enough palaver – lets get to the ‘taters! The potatoes down in Larry’s garden are enjoying a banner year so I am more than glad to come up with some new ideas using these yummy beauties. By its nature, a gratin is a simple recipe and I’m not changing that here. Potatoes, onion, garlic, oregano, thyme, rosemary, feta cheese and half & half and salt and pepper.Fresh herbs are always best and these came from garden about 10 minutes before I took this photo. I didn’t chop – just stripped the leaves from the stems and tore them a bit.Always easier if you prep everything before you begin assembling. Slice the potatoes and onions very thin. You can use a mandolin for this, and I do have a mandolin, but it is taking a sabatical to write a book. Ok, really it is still packed in a box in the infamous spare bedroom, and I have nice sharp knives so I can do it by hand. How many potatoes and onions you ask? As many as you want. I will give you amounts for this recipe, but really it is very flexible and you can use a larger baking dish to make a lot more or a smaller one and cut down the amounts. I used my trusty 10 inch square Corningware casserole dish, given to us as a wedding gift by my grandparents. I used two smallish onions and about 2 lbs of new red potatoes a couple cloves of garlic, minced. That is a half cup measure heaped with feta cheese and I should have just used a cup for starters because I ended up using more than this anyway.Put 1/3 of the potatoes and 1/2 of the onion in an even layer in a baking dish that has been generously coated with olive oil. Scatter half of the herbs and half the garlic over top.Layer on about 1/3 of a cup of feta cheese and salt and pepper everything.Repeat, again using 1/3 of the potatoes, the remaning onions, garlic and herbs and another 1/3 cup of feta.Finally, use the rest of the potatoes to completely cover the top. Push down all over the top surface to compact the ingredients. Gently pour about 1 & 1/3 cup of half and half over the surface. Salt and pepper the top and add a generous sprinkle of paprika.Bake at 350 degrees for about 90 minutes, scattering the final 1/3 cup of feta over the top for the last 30 minutes. If you have ever had a table full of hungry in-laws gnawing on the tablecloth while your scalloped potatoes finish baking, you know that the baking time for this kind of dish is not hard and fast. Allow plenty of time for it to finish baking because depending on the age of the potatoes, the size of the casserole and so on, it can take anywhere from 1 hour to 2. Better it should sit on low in the oven for a half hour than to hold up the works while Aunt Bessie has a third glass of Chianti and starts telling dirty jokes to the kids.I have to be honest here – this tasted even better than I had anticipated. Give it a try and let me know what you thought.
Potato Gratin with Feta and Herbs
2 lbs red potatoes, thinly sliced
1 med onion, thinly sliced
1 large or 2 smaller cloves garlic, minced
about 1/4 cup assorted fresh herbs [oregano, rosemary and thyme used here], stems removed and coarsely torn
1 cup crumbled feta cheese
1 & 1/3 cup half and half

Generously coat the bottom and sides of a 10 in flat baking dish with olive oil. Layer 1/3 of the potatoes, 1/2 of the onion, garlic and herbs and 1/3 of the feta cheese and season with salt and pepper. Reapeat in a second layer. End with the final 1/3 of the potatoes. Press layers to compact a bit and gently pour the half an half over. Season with salt and pepper and dust top with paprika. Bake at 350 for an hour, scatter remaning feta over top and bake about another 30 minutes until potatos are tender, most of the liquid has been absorbed and the top is nicely browned.