I got this recipe from Ted "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" Allen's cookbook, The Food You Want to Eat. It turned out delicious, although it's very, very rich, so it's definitely a special occasion recipe. You slice two pounds of baking potatoes as thin as you can (Guy did that part), and then layer half of them into an 8x8 casserole dish. You sprinkle them with kosher salt, black pepper, a little bit of freshly grated nutmeg, one garlic clove sliced thin, and fresh thyme. You cover this with a cup of grated Gruyere cheese and half a cup of heavy cream. Now you add the rest of the potatoes and repeat the whole process. Finally, you dot the whole thing with a tablespoon of butter, then bake at 350 for one hour and 15 minutes.
I love Ted Allen. I have to remember him the next time I'm trying to remember celebrities I like. I also like Robert Downey Jr., Robert Downey Sr. (just watched Putney Swope, which I'll never confuse with Sweeney Todd again), Erma Bombeck, Dina Martina, Julia Child, the Galloping Gourmet (before he stopped drinking and started pushing "molded ethnic vegetables" as part of a healthy diet), the young Alan Arkin, the older Alan Arkin, Gwen Ifill, Molly Ivins, Topher Grace (I'm no longer sure he's the POOR man's Tobey Maguire; it may just be the other way around!), Jenny Toomey, Bob Mould, Eugene Kelley (surely you've heard of the Vaselines?), and Meredith Vierra (sp?) who completely cracks me up in the brassy broad department, Paula Poundstone, and John Hodgman, who's so cute as "PC" but whom a certain someone in my household doesn't like being compared to even though I mean it in an entirely affectionate and admiring way. Oh, and Joanne Worley.
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I like potatoes, too.
I like how you list Alan Arkin twice! It's kinda like enjoying skinny Elvis as well as fat Elvis. Both have their charms.
ReplyDeleteAnd you're right--now Tobey Maguire is the poor man's Topher Grace! The tables have turned. Suck it, Spiderman!