A Star Is Born

Don’t quote me on it, but, as you might have guessed from my previous American Idol posting, I can kind of, sort of, maybe be a fan of the reality TV shows.  So much so that I secretly tape a few programs on my DVR and watch them after everyone is sound asleep.  One of my favorites has been The Next Food Network Star.

In the Food Network contest, I like how these individuals have to cook against ridiculous time constraints and ingredient challenges and yet are judged by the three picky judges and, half the time, by world famous chefs.  Then, they have to remain perky and present their ‘culinary point of view’ in front of a camera without a real chance to prepare a script.  Upon reading my pretty accurate description above of the show, I suddenly worry that I’m a bit of a sadist.  Hmm.

Well, you can imagine my excitement this year to cheer on a stay at home mom (and non chef) while fellow contestants sneered at her since she never worked at a real restaurant or cooked for the masses.  But, she turned out to be a great cook with consistently delicious food and teachablety in front of a camera.   All of the other hopefuls can sneer at themselves now since she won!  Her name is Melissa D’Arabian and she is pictured below:

On the season finale that won her a cooking show of her own, one of Melissa’s side dishes really had me (along with the judges) very interested.  See, my family loves both cheese and potatoes and I’ve been looking for a very simple way to make au gratin potatoes.   We like the boxed variety, but the ingredient list horrifies me and includes MSG.  Crazy where that shows up, isn’t it?  Her dish was named ‘5-Minute Individual Potato Gratins’ and they were cooked in muffin tins, so the bake time was cut down a lot, in addition to being very cute on the plate.  I tried them a couple of weeks ago and Jack loved them.  Curt ate them but did not enjoy the Swiss cheese flavor.  I already knew that my husband wouldn’t love the cheese, but I wanted to make her recipe exactly the first time around.  I decided to try them Monday with cheddar and substituting evaporated whole milk for the cream she used.  Curt enjoyed them more and Jack and I approved.  I think I’ve found a new spectacular side dish to put ‘in the rotation’ as my husband likes to say! 

A little browner than they should be because I forgot the foil the second time around.  But still great!

Lisa’s Mini Potato Gratins adapted from Melissa D’Arabian’s recipe

Vegetable Spray

2-3 large russet potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

3 green onions, finely chopped

salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 cup evaporated or fresh whole milk

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

 

Spray 12 muffin tins well with vegetable spray.  Layer potato slices, cheese, onions, and a bit of salt and pepper into each muffin cup.  Top each gratin with 1 to 2 tablespoons of milk. 

Cover with foil and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, removing the foil halfway through cooking time.  Remove from oven, let sit for 5 minutes, invert gratins onto plate and serve.

Makes 12 gratins.

simple ingredients

layering the dish