In my ongoing joust with the scourge of ‘convenience’ food, I was inspired to prove that a simple meat and potatoes gratin could be made from scratch pantry staples just as simply and just as quickly as ready-made ‘Hamburger Helper’ style boxes. My choice in the moment was pork and potato but it could just as easily have been the perennially popular ‘cheeseburger mac’, ‘tuna casserole’, or ‘skillet lasagne’. The theory is the same on all permutations – make a well-seasoned base, enrich with stock and vegetables, add some quick-cooking ground meat (or mushrooms), and then mix in a starch (or beans) to soak in all the goodness. The flavour combinations are endless once you practice the technique a bit.
Rather than focus on a specific recipe with niggling amounts that will no doubt change given the size of your pan and pantry, just absorb the concept like a one-pot wizard then work with what you have available. Any exact match of today’s list in the future will be pure coincidence since it changes each time based on my mood and how much wine I’ve had. If you insist, the recipe below fit my specific pan on that particular day. Your mileage will vary.
And of course, since it’s me, I did some exact ingredient math. This version was 2.5kg of food for CDN$4.89 at my local prices. To make the same from the likes of Betty Crocker and Knorr worked out to CDN$5.16 for 1.3kg of dinner. Effectively half price! Tell that to your ‘it’s cheaper’ excuses. Total time to dinner from cold pans was under an hour in both cases. I won’t even mention the massive improvement in flavour…oh, oops… I think I just did.
Pork & Potato Gratin From Scratch
450g freshly ground pork, beef, or poultry (or substitute 1kg mixed mushrooms coarsely chopped)
1kg russet or similar potatoes, peeled & 1/4″ sliced
2 ribs celery, chopped
1 medium onion, yellow or white, chopped
3 cloves garlic, sliced thinly
2-3 fresh Thai chiles, chopped or 1/2 teaspoon chile flakes (optional)
2 litres beef, chicken, or vegetable stock
250 ml heavy cream
1 tablespoon freshly ground black peppercorn
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
1 tablespoon fresh sage leaves, minced (or 1 teaspoon dried sage, freshly ground)
1/2 cup fresh parsley, minced (split half for simmering, half for garnish)
200g fresh or frozen peas, corn, diced carrots, or a mix (optional)
Oven preheated to (175c) 350f. Baking time 30-40 minutes depending on pan size and depth.
Full method can be found in the video above. There’s also a secret optional ingredient to boost flavour – watch to find out!
– msh 2.1
