Gratin So Nice You Can Eat it Twice: Easy Cheddar and Mushroom Gratin

Sorry about the rhyming title, but seriously, you can really eat this twice. Once as a side dish for dinner and once as a hearty, scrumptious breakfast-type ‘hash’. Ok, more on this dish’s multiple uses later, how do you make the darn thing already! (thanks to a friend’s suggestion, there’s now a link to a printable version at the end of the post, hooray!)
You will need:
4 golden potatoes, sliced as thin as you can get them ( if you have a mandolin that works great. Otherwise just slice them as thin as you can. I leave the skins on, because I love the flavor and it’s where all of the vitamins are.)
12 oz of mushrooms, chopped
1 medium yellow onion, sliced thin
1 1/2C Cheddar cheese ( or more if you want)
Salt & pepper
1 tsp rosemary
1 tsp minced garlic
1- 1 1/2C cream, milk or half and half
Olive oil for sautéing and to oil your baking dish

Start by preheating your oven to 350. Oil a baking dish with some olive oil or spray if you prefer ( I don’t use the spray because it seems to destroy my baking dishes for some reason).
Now, heat a pan coated in olive oil to medium

Slice your onions and chop your mushrooms

When your pan is hot, get your onions going in there with a good pinch of salt, pepper, and rosemary. Sauté until they are tender and lightly golden.

Next, add in your mushrooms and another pinch of salt

while your mushrooms soften and become delicious, start slicing your potatoes.
Now begin layering your gratin: start with a layer of overlapping potato slices sprinkled with salt and pepper

Now a layer of your onion and mushroom sauté (use half the mixture)

Now top that with a healthy sprinkling of cheese (note my son in the background here: “hey mom, why don’t you stop taking pictures of the food and just cook it. I want to go on our walk now woman!)

Repeat that layering process one time, finishing with the cheese layer. Now add in your cream or milk, whichever you prefer. You could even use half and Half ( I used cream. It’s a bit decadent and some might say over the top, but it’s soooo creamy and good. it’s about 1- 1/2 cup. The cream should come just to the bottom of your top potato layer.

Now pop this bad boy into the oven, uncovered for about 1 hour and 15 minutes ( if the top is getting too crispy, remove the gratin from the oven and gently press down on the top layer to allow some of the liquid to moisturize the top (moisturize? Probably not the right word…but you get the idea)

Yeah, this guy is so good he deserves a close up. Now, plate and serve ( this could go with anything from a nice green salad with a lemon vinaigrette to something more hearty like chicken or even a yummy meatloaf. I served it with my oven fried chicken and it was goooood.)

Here’s the eat it twice part: after you eat this for dinner, save your leftovers and then pop the baking dish right back into a 350 degree oven in the morning for about 20 minutes or until warmed through and a little crispy on top. So good with a poached or sunny side egg, or all by itself.