Potato Vegetable Gratin

Julie and I were talking about it, and while we both certainly grew up with plenty of potato dishes, au gratin potatoes (not even the Franglaise term, potatoes au gratin) came from one of two places: from a red box that seemed to live indefinitely in the pantry, or, later, in all their orangey congealed glory, in the chafing dish of some slightly exotic buffet. They did not look or taste like this:

Ignore the burnt bits at the side. Those wash right off the pan (it's amazing that way), and the gratin itself was not at all burnt or dry. On the contrary, it was tender and soft and full of rich complex nutty goodness. Sigh...

I've mentioned the gratin thing before. I started making them at the end of last year as a way to use up aging potatoes, and whatever else sounded delicious. Prep for this is actually quite easy, once you get the hang of not bleeding profusely with the mandolin slicer. I use a variation of this recipe. You could use raw portabelo slices, like the recipe say, but you can also substitute whatever you have or is in season. This time I caramelized some onions, sauteed sliced criminis with them and then sprinkled them in between the layers along with some sliced Brussels sprouts.

I know that this is usually thought of as a side dish, but, if you do it up right, a piece of this, a simple salad and maybe a glass of red wine can be an amazingly satisfying meal.