When it came to a European recipe, I headed straight for the Greek and Italian cookbooks. That was until, Tim pointed out to me that I was looking up Mediterranean food! As much as I initially tried to protest this; I knew he was right and just because they are in the EU doesn’t mean they are producing   European cuisine. So back to the bookshelf I went!  Considering that I don’t eat a lot of meat euro food largely leaves me with side dishes and pastries and given that I didn’t have a two spare days to play with, the pastries were kind of out of the question. So I present a yummy little side dish for two.

Potato Gratin, as seen in FOOD, COOK, EAT

serves 2

1 tablespoon oil

1 onion finely sliced

1 garlic clove, crushed

2 large or 4 small floury potatoes

4 tablespoons Gruyere cheese, grated

a pinch of ground nutmeg

80ml (1/3 cup) milk

90ml (1/3 cup) cream

Put oven on to 170C (325F). Heat the oil in a frying pan over a low heat and add the onion. Stir to coat the onions in oil, then leave to cook until they are completely soft and translucent but not brown. You may need to stir them occasionally to stop them browning in patches. Add the garlic and cook for a minute, then turn off the heat.

Thinly slice the potatoes using a sharp knife, making the slices even so they cook at the same rate. Butter two small ovenproof dishes. Equally dividing the ingredients, layer the potatoes, onions and garlic, grated cheese and nutmeg in the dishes, seasoning as you go. Finished with a layer of potatoes and some cheese. Mix together the milk and cram and divide between the two dishes.

Cover the dishes with foil and back for 10 minutes then take off the foil and bake for 40 minutes, or until the potatoes are completely cooked. Test by pushing a sharp  knife through the layers to see if the potato still feels hard. If it does continue cooking. Leave to stand for a few minutes before serving so that the sauce soaks into the potatoes.

I could only find one decent sized ramekin in my cupboard (pretty sure the other one got broken in the move), so I went for a single dish that would still serve two. I used desiree potatoes, as I wanted them to hold their shape a little bit better. It tasted great and was super easy. Sorry for the shit photos, I promise to get the real camera out next time.