3/4 cups gruyere cheese (optional – many French cooks omit this!)
Instructions
Wash, peel and slice the potatoes. I took the liberty of not peeling my potatoes the second time around to save time, but that’s not the true French way of doing it. I also chopped my potatoes in the food processor. It takes like 30 seconds, versus about 10-15 minutes if you’re peeling and chopping potatoes by hand.
In a large non-stick pot, melt and brown the butter with garlic until it smells nutty – it shouldn’t be burned, but you’ll know when it smells right.
Add the milk, cream, salt pepper and nutmeg.
Add the potatoes and cook until potatoes are soft (about 45-50 minutes), being careful not to burn the potatoes. The potatoes should be thoroughly coated with the milk mixture, but they shouldn’t be swimming in milk.
Spread a thin layer of the potato mixture into a serving pan, such as a 7×11 or 9×13 casserole pan. Drizzle with cream and the sprinkled with cheese. Repeat until the pan is full.
Bake at 300 degrees for 35-40 minutes until the cheese begins to turn golden brown.