Review: Potato Gratin with Goat Cheese and Garlic 10/01

[greysangel]

This is going to be a definite repeat.

I halved the recipe with no problem.

It was not overpowering and makes a terrific side. As a main meal I think I would want to add some other flavor to it...maybe an herbed goat cheese. This was delicious though...DH loved it.

I served it with chicken thighs with garlic and lime and sauteed string beans.

My only change was I minced three cloves of garlic instead of one and used all spice instead of nutmeg. Like I said, as a main dish I think I would add herbs de Provence or an herbed goat cheese.

YUM!

JeAnne

[SandyM]

Thanks for the review, JeAnne. I'm looking forward to trying it.

I'd probably add more garlic, and would also probably omit the nutmeg and find a suitable replacement. I associate nutmeg with apple pie. I remember my brother-in-law making the Thanksgiving stuffing one year, and putting nutmeg in it. That was just too weird.

[greysangel]

I can't imagine 1 clove of minced garlic for the whole recipe!! I used three cloves for half recipe :D

JeAnne

[SandyM]

Uh huh. I told Jewel one time that when I see "1 clove garlic" in a recipe, my mind automatically converts it to "3 cloves garlic" - or more!

[lisas3575]

I've only tried it once (the goat cheese enchiladas from CL 5 Star) and didn't like the flavor. Is it just me? Or did I get the wrong kind? It was very strong and earthy. I bought gruyere <sp?> to sub in this recipe. Thoughts?

[Wendy w]

Originally posted by SandyM
Uh huh. I told Jewel one time that when I see "1 clove garlic" in a recipe, my mind automatically converts it to "3 cloves garlic" - or more!

I do this too. I love CL but they tend to be a bit conservative with garlic usage.

Thank you for the review, JeAnne! I just received my October issue on Friday and this is one of the recipes that "jumped" out at me.

[greysangel]

Lisa;

Goat Cheese is certainly a distinctive taste...I happen to absolutely love it.

I'm not sure about the gruyere. The reason goat cheese works so well in this is because it is so soft and whisks smooth which is great for the layers and blending.

Sorry I'm not much help here ;/

JeAnne

[Linda in MO]

I've never even had goat cheese and I'm not even sure I can find it here. Would feta be good in this?

[greysangel]

You may want to zip the mixture in a blender instead of whisking it so that it's smooth. I noticed even with the goat cheese..after whisking..the final product tasted great but was visually a little strange as there were little "dots" of cheese...looked like it was curdled milk :o

JeAnne

[Linda in MO]

Thanks, JeAnne. I think I'll give it a try and I will also up the amount of garlic. Strange that "garlic" is even in the title since there is only one clove of garlic in the whole recipe?!

[vbak]

This sounds absolutely delish. I love goat cheese. It is ......so earthy, and pungent. Ahh, it would be nice if I wiuld get my Oct. issue. :( Vicky

[greysangel]

Potato Gratin with Goat Cheese and Garlic

CL 10/01

1 cup half and half, divided
1 Tbsp all purpose flour
1 cup (4oz) crumbled goat cheese
1 cup 1% low fat milk
1 Tsp salt
3/4 Tsp black pepper
1/8 Tsp ground nutmeg
1 garlic clove, minced
5 cups thinly sliced peeled Yukon Gold potato (about 2 1/2 lbs)
Cooking Spray

1. Preheat oven to 400
2. Combine 2 Tbsp half and half with flour in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add the remaining half and half, cheese, and next 5 ingredients (cheese through garlic), stirring with a whisk. Arrange half of the potato slices in a single layer in an 11x7 baking dish coated with cooking spray. Pour half of the milk mixture over potato slices, stirring the milk mixture immediately before adding. Repeat procedure with remaining potato slices and milk mixture. Bake at 400 for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender and golden brown.

Yield: 9 servings (2/3 cup each)

cal 193
fat 5.8g
fiber 2.4 g
4 WW Points

Notes: Recipe halved with no problem Used three cloves of garlic for HALF the recipe and was generous with other spices. Used allspice for nutmeg. Herbed goat cheese would work as well. Definite repeat! Chaz loved it!!

[Wienie]

Originally posted by lisas3575
I've only tried it once (the goat cheese enchiladas from CL 5 Star) and didn't like the flavor. Is it just me? Or did I get the wrong kind? It was very strong and earthy. I bought gruyere <sp?> to sub in this recipe. Thoughts?

I have used Gruyere in similar recipes for Scalloped Potatoes. I would just layer the cheese between the potatoes and then pour the half and half mixture over all. It won't be quite as creamy, but the flavor will be great.

I did make this recipe with goat cheese and DH and I thought it was a definate keeper. I used the Chevre spreadable goat cheese rather than the crumbles, but it still came out a little curdley. Oh well, who cares, tasted great. Also upped the garlic. Excellent side dish.
Jeanne

[BarbaraL]

I love goat cheese, but when I see a recipe like this I'm a little confused. Do they mean goat cheese that's packaged as a cylinder (sometimes plain, sometimes rolled in herbs) and is usually served with crackers? What about Chavre? Earlier posters have mentioned feta works, but is not what the recipe calls for.

Just wondering . . .

[lisas3575]

:)

[browneye]

Originally posted by BarbaraL
I love goat cheese, but when I see a recipe like this I'm a little confused. Do they mean goat cheese that's packaged as a cylinder (sometimes plain, sometimes rolled in herbs) and is usually served with crackers? What about Chavre? Earlier posters have mentioned feta works, but is not what the recipe calls for.

Just wondering . . .

Yes, BarbaraL, it is the goat cheese that's packaged as a cylinder, many brand names are available. Chevre, or Chavre, as you indicate here, is essentially the same thing in a different package. Feta is a type of (usually) goat cheese, but it is a different style, and when a recipe calls for goat cheese, they are not referring to Feta Cheese. They have an entirely different flavor.
I would be aware if substituting Feta that it is usually much more salty than regular goat cheese or Chevre.
You might need to reduce the salt accordingly.

[mmanddf]

I truly love all kinds of cheese and would have no problem subbing gruyere or feta for the goat...but the goat sounds so good! It is on the menu for this week. I agree it needs more garlic. And I thought I was the only one who automatically upped the garlic in recipes by 2 or 3 times! Great to see there are other spicy lovers out there.

[BarbaraL]

Browneye, thanks for the clarification! I love the "cylinder-style" goat cheese. I just recently had some Chevre; I didn't like it as much as the other. It probably wouldn't make much difference in a recipe like this.

By the way, I also always double or triple the garlic content!

[kwormann]

I posted a review last night. Here is a link....:D

http://www.cookinglight.com/vbb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=14676

ALong with it is a review for Monkey Bars

[mmtibbs]

Well, I was curious about even further lowering the fat in this dish, so I took the leap and made it with NON FAT HALF AND HALF. The flavor was absolutely wonderful, thumbs up all around the table.

I did have a momentary glitch with this recipe, that may have resulted from the substitution--when I first took this out of the oven, the top layer of potatoes was dried out and the sauce was somewhat seperated. I just took two butter knives and sort of made criss cross cuts in the whole thing, churning it up a bit. I let it set for five minutes and VOILA! .....the formerly dried out potatoes on the top had absorbed the sauce and everything was much more visually appealing.

I'll be making this one again.

[vbak]

Greysangel thanks for posting the recipe. MMTIBBS, thanks for the info on using FF cream because that is what I will be using. Vicky

[lindrusso]

These came out even BETTER than I imagined they would. And without reading any of these reviews, I also autmatically upped the garlic and used to very large cloves. Delicious!!!!!!

[dmcgreevey]

Ok, so I made this last night and while it was good, it was not very saucy. The smell of it in the oven was incredible!

Were yours? I am wondering if I had too many potatoes (I just cut up the 2.5 lbs called for in the recipe)?? I had 4 layers of potatoes, which seemed a little odd when it looked like the recipe clearly had two. I put them all in single layer and poured sauce on each layer.

Any thoughts? Maybe it wasn't supposed to be really saucy?

Thanks! Dawn

[lisas3575]

Originally posted by dmcgreevey
Maybe it wasn't supposed to be really saucy?

Nope, mine wasn't saucy either... but not dry. Kinda "sticky" I guess.

[SusanL]

as wonderful as it smelled while baking! This is a really EASY recipe to make for company-providing they enjoy goat cheese! I used 3 garlic cloves and DH asked if there was enough garlic in it?!! :eek:

[buddie]

i made this yesterday but with feta cheese and it was great!!!!

[KValley]

Originally posted by dmcgreevey
Ok, so I made this last night and while it was good, it was not very saucy. The smell of it in the oven was incredible!

Were yours? I am wondering if I had too many potatoes (I just cut up the 2.5 lbs called for in the recipe)?? I had 4 layers of potatoes, which seemed a little odd when it looked like the recipe clearly had two. I put them all in single layer and poured sauce on each layer.

Any thoughts? Maybe it wasn't supposed to be really saucy?

Thanks! Dawn


Dawn- I made this last night and had the same quandry- 2.5 lbs of potatoes seemed like an AWFUL lot for the amount of sauce. So, I used the same amount of sauce and half of the potatoes! I did slice mine very thin and ended up with two double layers. I'm saving the rest of the sliced potatoes for a frittata next week.

I also used FF Half and Half and three jumbo cloves of garlic, as well as a teaspoon of nutmeg.

It was delicious, very rich and creamy- we loved the tangy, sharp goat cheese. Fantastic with the Pork Picatta from Oct '01

[yorkshirepud]

Just bumping this up to ask a question as I hope to make it tonight.

Would this work with sweet potatoes? If so, do you think I'd need to reduce the cooking time as I know they tend to cook quicker than white potatoes.

Thanks.
YP

[greysangel]

Adele-
I love sweet potatoes, but I honestly think the flavors of the goat cheese and garlic would be totally wrong for the sweet potatoes. I think regular taters work so well because they are a little more bland IMO.

j

[lorilei]

I'd say -- try it. What's the worst that could happen?

Sweet potatoes are a perfect pairing for goat cheese (all respect to JeAnne), so I'd think it would make a really interesting dish.

Most sweet potato gratin recipes that I've seen call for baking at between 350º - 400º for about 45 minutes, so you could use that as your gauge.

Then you can report back to us to tell us if it worked :)

[yorkshirepud]

greysangel, I think I might try it anyway. I don't have white potatoes as I don't buy them unless needed, but I always have a sweet potato as they are my faves.

Lorilei, I'll report back I promise. I plan on scaling the recipe for 2 and baking in individual dishes then inverting them onto the plate (please work). Thanks for the reference to other recipes. I'll start checking after 45 mins.

One more question. The recipe says to thinly slice the potatoes. How thin? About 1/4 inch?

[yorkshirepud]

This was REALLY GOOD!!! I went ahead and made it with sweet potato and it turned out fine. A yummy combination!

[Pony]

Bringing up an old recipe...I was looking for some recipes calling for goat cheese and this was one on my list. We had this last night and it was excellent! We halved the recipe and pretty much followed the recipe. I was not keeping an eye on the gratin as it was cooking and cooked it for the full 1hr. 10 min. I would maybe decrease the time if you are cutting it in half, we had some major browning going on! But still so wonderful and creamy. We served it with a pork tenderloin, this would be excellent for company or the holidays. mmmmmmmmmm.....love goat cheese :)