Smoked Au Gratin Potatoes
Who doesn’t like au gratin potatoes? I’ll tell you who. My drummer Sean from Echoes of the Fallen. He told me that he was raised on the boxed au gratins with the dehydrated potatoes and the powdered cheese mix. He said that they were never cooked properly and the potatoes were always hard. He had never had real homemade ones before, so I had him over for dinner to change his mind.Making au gratins is pretty simple. The first thing is to make sure that your potatoes are sliced evenly. Having a mandolin helps with that. I sliced them just over 1/8” thick. They will only need to boil for 5 minutes since they are thin. Cool them in an ice water bath to stop them from cooking. The cheese sauce is simple. Melt butter. Whisk flour. Whisk in cream. Whisk in cheese. Done. In my cheese sauce, I added finely chopped Canadian bacon, smoked onions, and smoked garlic to add more flavor to the potatoes. If you don’t want these in the potatoes, leave them out. I don’t know why anyone wouldn’t want them. Pour the sauce over a pan of the potatoes and smoke for an hour. Alternatively, if you don’t have a smoker, you can bake these in the oven at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.So in the end, Sean and I ate a half a large pan of the au gratins with our smoked chicken. Needless to say, he is now a fan. Fuck you Betty Crocker.
Servings: 8
Equipment
- Electric Smoker
- 9”x13” aluminum foil pan
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 lbs potatoes thinly sliced on a mandolin
- 4 tbsp butter
- 4 tbsp flour
- 1 pint heavy cream
- 1/4 onion or smoked onion
- 1 head garlic or smoked garlic
- 8 oz Canadian bacon or ham; cubed
- 8 oz cheddar cheese
- 2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp white pepper
Instructions
- Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Boil the potatoes for 5 minutes.
- Drain and cool in an ice bath to stop the cooking. Set aside.
- Add the ham, onions, and garlic to a food processor.
- Chop finely. Set aside.
- Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and cook for 3 minutes.
- Whisk in the heavy cream, salt, and white pepper.
- Whisk in the ground ham mix. Cook for 2-3 minutes until the sauce starts to thicken.
- Whisk in the cheese.
- Cook for 2 more minutes until all of the cheese has melted.
- Layer the potatoes flat in a well greased aluminum foil pan.
- Pour the cheese sauce over the potatoes.
- Top with more cheese.
- Throw the pan in a 250 degree preheated electric smoker for 1 hour. My potatoes smoked with some brined chicken breasts. They were smoked with hickory and apple woods.
