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Alice Waters gets back to basics

Anyone who is new to the kitchen would appreciate the step-by-step instructions

By Kim Davaz

It’s not that I don’t want to cook on Mother’s Day. It’s that I don’t want to decide what to cook, shop for it, cook it and then clean it up. “In the Green Kitchen: Techniques to Learn By Heart” by Alice Waters is a cookbook from which I’d like to be presented a meal.

The book includes photographs and short presentations on basic cooking techniques (many by Waters’ friends who are well-known in the cooking world) that were part of a Slow Food event in San Francisco.

The book explains the most basic tasks (cooking rice, roasting a chicken, whisking mayonnaise) and then gives you ways to use those skills for more complicated dishes.

This book is a good place to start putting your foot into the culinary waters, so to speak. Give “In the Green Kitchen” as a gift for a not-so-skilled-in-the-kitchen mother who wouldn’t be offended if she got a new kitchen “helper” for Mother’s Day.

It would also make a great wedding gift or present for anyone who is new to the kitchen.

Proceeds from the cookbook benefit The Chez Panisse Foundation to support Edible Education. The goal of the organization is to change the way children eat and learn about food in schools.

If anyone is asking, for Mother’s Day I’d like Chicken Roasted on a Bed of Vegetables, Greens With Ginger and Chilies, biscuits or cornbread, Potato Gratin and a nice Apple Galette for dessert.

And though I wouldn’t turn down a glass of Champagne to celebrate the day, in keeping with the “eat local” theme that Waters advocates, I’ll happily drink Willamette Valley wine.

The gratin calls for an embarrassing amount of cream. Go for it at least once, then you can experiment with a lower-fat version, replacing some of the cream with milk. If you won’t be having whipped cream for dessert, rather than buy an additional container of cream to get another 1/4 cup, a pint (2 cups) of cream and 1/4 cup more chicken stock will still make a rich gratin.

Put the gratin dish on a large rimmed baking sheet in case the gratin bubbles over. The clean-up crew will thank you.

Potato Gratin

Serves 6.

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 2 1/4 cups heavy cream
• 3/4 cup chicken stock
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 4 pounds medium-size Yukon Gold or other waxy potatoes
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Butter a 14-inch oval gratin dish with 1 tablespoon of the butter. Put the cream, stock, bay leaf and salt in a medium pot, and stir to combine. Bring the mixture to a simmer, reduce the heat to low, and let steep while you prepare the potatoes.

Peel the potatoes. Use a mandoline slicer or a knife to cut the potatoes into 1/8-inch-thick slices. Neatly layer the slices in the gratin dish, overlapping slightly, like shingles on a rooftop, making 3 or 4 layers.

It’s important to slice the potatoes and immediately assemble the gratin, before the potatoes oxidize and turn brown. Avoid putting the potatoes in water. You don’t want to rinse off any of the potato starch. The starch is essential for a rich, creamy gratin.

Remove the bay leaf from the cream mixture and discard. Gently pour the mixture over the potatoes. The liquid level should be just below the surface of the potatoes; when you gently press the potatoes down with a spatula, the cream mixture should spill over the top layer of potatoes. Dot the remaining 2 tablespoons butter on top, and cover tightly with foil.

Bake until the potatoes are almost tender when pierced with a small, sharp knife, about 35 minutes. Increase the oven temperature to 400 degrees. Press the potatoes down with a spatula to an even thickness, allowing the creamy juices to baste the top. Sprinkle the thyme and black pepper on top.

Continue to bake, uncovered, pressing the potatoes down with a spatula to baste periodically, until the gratin is nicely browned, about 30 minutes. (It’s OK if the gratin is a little loose and creamy at this point.)

Remove from the oven and let stand for 5 minutes before serving, to allow the gratin to settle and absorb some of the cream.

Other sliced vegetables can be combined with the potatoes: turnips, celery root, leeks, winter squash or mushrooms, as well as wilted leafy greens between the layers. Apply the same method to other vegetable gratins without potatoes.

Kim Davaz writes a biweekly cookbook review column for The Register-Guard.