Photo: Mikkel Vang
Good morning and Merry Christmas! Whether you celebrate Christmas or not, a holiday morning is an ideal time to indulge in the pleasures of a homemade hearty breakfast. Christmas traditions in our household begin with a big breakfast, and potatoes, eggs, and bacon still reign as the top choices. Even though our girls have become quite proficient with their hash browns, the real family favorite when it comes to potatoes is what is affectionately known as potato gratin, but titled Crispy Oven-Browned Potatoes on gourmet.com.
Think of it as a lazy person’s Pommes Anna, the French buttery potato cake. Instead of carefully layering thin slices of potato with melted butter, you quickly toss the slices with butter in a large bowl, then slide them into a shallow baking dish, and cook the gratin in a hot oven until the potatoes are, indeed, browned and crisp on top. Former Gourmet magazine food editor Melissa Roberts developed this winner of a recipe for the Christmas breakfast menu in the December 2008 issue of Gourmet. In fact, all her recipes for that menu are winners. Thanks to Roberts, we’ll also be making her Maple and Black-Pepper Bacon, as well as her Baked Egg Custard with Gruyere and Chives.
Fortified by the potatoes, eggs, and bacon in our bellies, we have the energy for unwrapping presents, as well as the cleanup afterwards, which is then followed by a long nap before dinner. That means there are only two meals to cook on Christmas Day. Now that’s what I call a gift!
