TASTY TUESDAY INDIVIDUAL POTATO GRATIN

This weeks recipe features a potato gratin done in such a way as to eliminate a lot of fat and calories while maintaining great flavor.  For the starch on the Valentine's menu I decided that these little individual gratins would be great with the menu that featured fillet Mignon, etc.
             
The TT item this week was served on Sunday for our Valentine's Day dinner...

I love the polka dot salad plates and little covered dishes and have had them for sometime and then one day last spring I was at a local (in Utah and some in CA too) store called Tai Pan Trading and they had some stacks of plates for $1.97 and so I picked up a few of the red/white polka dot - they had black and white with polka dots too but I contained myself and only brought the red.

I chose the little covered dish (without the cover) for the potatoes.

Full calorie, full fat potato gratin will have things like cream and my favorite cheese with potatoes, Gruyere so my goal was to get some good flavor with a whole lot less fat.  So I used 2% milk (only for cooking the  potatoes) green onions, fresh chives, fat free half and half, Pam spray, potatoes, some bacon crumbles (from Costco in the bag) and most important some grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese - you can use the stuff in the green container but the flavor of the Parmigiano Reggiano is so much better and so worth the extra money.

Peel russet potatoes (I used 10 ounces of peeled potatoes) and slice them very thin, use a mandoline if possible because the slices are very uniform this way and will be done at the same time.

Place the sliced potatoes in a pot with milk (I did not measure, just put in enough 2% milk to cover the potatoes). To this mixture add salt, pepper, a few chopped fresh chives (or sliced green of a green onion) and about 1 tsp of the Costco bacon crumbles.  Bring to a boil and cook until the potatoes are all most done.  Turn off the heat and let the mixture steep for about 30 minutes - the potatoes will absorb the flavor of the seasoned milk mixture.

 While the potatoes are steeping in the milk, slice one green onion, white and green parts, spray your containers with Pam or other non-stick spray and have your grated cheese and non-fat half and half ready.....

To assemble, drain the potatoes (retain the milk for use in soup etc. if desired) then place 1/4 of the potatoes in the bottom of the dish, sprinkle with onions, add 1 tablespoon of the cheese and 1 tablespoon of the FF half and half, sprinkle with salt and pepper and repeat, using all the onions and two tablespoons of the cheese and the half and half.

Place in a 350° oven for approximate 15-20 minutes, until the cheese turns a golden brown.

Each serving (using 10 ounces of potatoes) is 162.5 calories, 2.25 grams of fat and 6.25 grams of protein.

Cooks notes:

Because I was serving this dish with a dinner that included, soup, salad, steak, mushrooms, asparagus and dessert, I really wanted the starch component to be very low in calories and fat but if I were serving this with a protein, veggie and salad, I think I would use regular half and half - it will still be a very healthy version of potato gratin.  My test pilot gave it two thumbs up and added more salt and pepper.  By letting the potatoes steep in the milk-bacon-chive mixture, they are really tasty.

Thank you for stopping by.