Pommes Boulangère

Think au gratin potatoes but without all the cream and most of the cheese. I’m not sure that I’d call this a healthy dish, so let’s go with less bad for you. Ed was looking for an alternative to traditional au gratin potatoes and discovered Pommes Boulangère (or ‘potatoes from the baker’).

This is an old French dish that dates back to an era when people didn’t have ovens in their homes. They would take a meat dish surrounded by potatoes and onions to the baker on their way to church to heat it up – on their way home they’d pick it up and it would be ready to eat. This is a variation on that classic dish (minus the meat). It’s made by layering potatoes, onions and herbs and topping it with cheese.

The first version I made was heavy on butter and oil, so it came out too greasy. I liked the flavors so gave it another try and was pleased with the results. For my first attempt I had planned to use chicken stock, but then I realized while I was slicing the potatoes, that one of our guests that evening was a vegetarian. I didn’t have any vegetable stock at home, so I improvised and used a dry white wine instead. I’m of the belief that all things are better with wine, so I made it the second time using wine. You could use chicken or vegetable stock in its place. 

And, my last confession, is that I forgot to buy Gruyère cheese when I made it again, so I used Beemster’s Paradiso cheese, an Italian-style cheese made in Holland since I had it on hand (that’s what you see in the picture). It grates and melts well and has as bit of sweetness to it. While I liked this, I prefer the more traditional Gruyère cheese from Switzerland. That and Emmentaler are the cheeses found in classic Swiss cheese fondue.

As you can tell from my mishaps, this is pretty forgiving recipe. It would make a great addition to a holiday meal as it pairs well with poultry or meat. Plus, you can do the prep work in advance and refrigerate it for a few hours before heating it up in the oven.