Potato-Fennel Gratin Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Can you make Ina Garten potato fennel gratin ahead? ›

Ina Garten Is Ditching Mashed Potatoes for This 5-Ingredient, Make-Ahead Thanksgiving Recipe. The best part (well, besides all the cheese)? You can prep it a day in advance.

If your potatoes have turned watery, it's likely due to excess moisture, overcooking, or not draining them properly.

It is possible to pre-prepare the gratin up to 2 days ahead by simmering the potatoes and transferring them to the buttered baking dish, then refrigerating them until needed. You should cool and refrigerate the mixture as quickly as possible, and within 2 hours of cooking.

If you're here, you'll probably be glad to know that yes, you can peel and cut potatoes the day before you plan to serve them — and that it's super easy! All you have to do is submerge the bare potato pieces in water and refrigerate (more on that later).

Yes, you definitely can peel and cut up fresh potatoes, cover them with water and store in the fridge overnight. Cook, cool and prepare the potato salad, mashed potatoes, or use in other recipes, the next day.

My potatoe are sort of purple or gray

Your potatoes have oxidized, which means you prepped them too far ahead. If you want to peel and slice your potatoes in advance be sure to cover them with cold water so that they are not exposed to air, which will make them discolor.

If raw, once the potato is cut you can store in the refrigerator, covered with water for 12-24 hours. Be sure to keep submerged in water to prevent slices from turning gray or brown.

High heat will cause the milk to curdle. Use milk or cream with higher fat content. Whole milk, half-and-half, or cream and full-fat cheeses are necessary. Skim milk and reduced-fat products will not be your friend in this dish.

Surprisingly, aluminum foil is his secret weapon. After beautifully shingling the potatoes (he's got a genius trick for doing this quickly, too) he covers the dish in foil before hitting the oven.

Instead, to avoid those bland mouthfuls of potato, you need to instead season every layer. The added seasoning will become sandwiched in between the potato slices, ensuring every bite will be bursting with flavor. It might take a few extra minutes during preparation, but we promise it's a few extra minutes well spent.

Why did the milk curdle in my scalloped potatoes? ›

The curdling is caused by high heat, which is hard to avoid in an oven. So to keep the sauce together, tackle it before the dish goes in the oven. Instead of simply layering grated cheese and milk or cream with the potatoes, you need to make a smooth cheese sauce.

What is the difference between au gratin potatoes and scalloped potatoes? Au Gratin potatoes contain cheese, whereas Scalloped Potatoes do not. Scalloped potatoes typically contain cream but can also contain flavorful stock instead of dairy.

You can assemble the dish and refrigerate for about 8 hours before baking, or you can bake it and refrigerate for about 24 hours before serving. To reheat, cover with foil and warm in a 350°F oven for about 20 minutes. Unfortunately, this dish does not freeze well.

Prepare the recipe as directed, then let it cool to room temperature. Cover the baking dish tightly with aluminum foil, then store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. If the recipe has cheese, breadcrumbs, herbs, or any other toppings, reserve it and add it before reheating.

These scalloped potatoes can be made ahead. You can assemble the dish and refrigerate for about 8 hours before baking, or you can bake it and refrigerate for about 24 hours before serving.

Martha makes scalloped potatoes ahead of time by partially cooking them in milk and holding them on the stove. When the rest of the food is being prepared, just take them out of the milk, layer them, and bake them.