Meat and Potato Gratin

Source

Bistro - French country recipes for home cooks by Laura Washburn with changes

Taste 4 (out of 5)

Difficulty 4 (out of 5)

Ingredients

Beef layer

- 3 tbsp unsalted butter or 2 tbsp oil (240 cal)

- 2 onions chopped (120 cal)

- 2 garlic cloves (10 cal)

- 1 1/2 lb = 700 g ground beef, turkey, chicken or mix of the three (1820 cal - if using beef)

- 4 tbsp brandy or 1/2 cup of white wine (50 cal)

- handful of flat leafed parsley chopped

- spring of thyme leaves chopped

- 2 tbsp sun dried tomatoes or tomato paste (20 cal - if using tomato paste)

- 2 oz/ 3/4 cups freshly grated hard cheese, preferably Gruyere (240 cal)

- 1 cup corn kernels (120 cal) - optional

- salt and black pepper to taste

Puree layers

- 3 lb potatoes (1040 cal)

- 1 lb turnips (130 cal) - optional, can be substituted with 1 lb of potatoes

- 1 fresh bay leaf

- 1/2 cup of hot milk (65 cal)

- 2 tbsp unsalted butter cut into pieces (200 cal)

- salt to taste

Total 4055 calories, 8 servings, 505 cal / serving

Instructions

1. Put potatoes, turnips and bay leaf into a saucepan of cold water. Bring to a boil, cook until tender and drain.

2. Mash potatoes coarsely with a wooden spoon. Using an electronic mixer add milk, butter and salt, beating until the mixture is smooth. Mix the turnips with a little milk and salt in a separate bowl to have layers in different colors, or together with potatoes if you prefer one color.

3. Heat the butter in the skillet and add the onions. Cook over high heat for 3-5 minutes until brown. Add garlic and meat and cook until completely done. Add the wine (or the brandy) and cook until almost evaporated. Steer in the parsley, thyme leaves, tomato paste; taste and add salt and pepper as needed.

4. Spread half the potatoes in a 19’‘x13’’ greased baking dish, add the meat mixture and level with a spoon, place the corn on top of the meat, add the turnip layer, spread the remaining potatoes and sprinkle with cheese.

5. Bake in a preheated oven at 400F for 25-30 minutes until golden.

Afterthoughts

- The original recipe only called for 2 potato layer and 1 meat layer. I just try to make it a little more colorful. It turns out really good either way.

- Next time, to save some calories, I might substitute turnips for 1/2 the potatoes - and have the lower layer of turnips and the upper layer of potatoes. Should save about 30 calories per serving. - I used Mozzarella and Havarti cheeses on top instead of Gruyere, and liked both variations.