Gold Potato Gratin stars a Cougar in the Yukon

After our amazing Potato Gratin with Mushrooms and Gruyere on Christmas Eve, I've decided it was time to create my own potato gratin with some Cougar Gold that I'll otherwise keep snacking on late at night or at other times that are hardly ideal.

And since I was making steak with this dish, I decided to try a bit of a healthier route by replacing the heavy cream with whole milk. I'm pretty sure I've made potato gratin in the past with fat-free milk with success, so I thought this would be just as creamy.

Silly me. NOTHING is as creamy as heavy cream, and even thought the whole milk did prevent the gratin from at least turning into a soupy casserole, it was not nearly as decadent as our Christmas Eve gratin.

But it was still a tasty side dish to our simple steak, especially drizzled with white truffle oil!

Gold Potato Gratin
1 garlic clove, crushed
2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt (or to taste)
2 cups Cougar Gold cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Rub the crushed garlic clove around the sides and bottom of a 2-quart casserole dish with a lid (or use foil). When garlic juice has dried, generously coat the dish with butter.

Layer half the potatoes on the bottom of the casserole pan. Top with half the onions, then sprinkle with half the flour, half the salt and half the cheese. Repeat with the second layer.

Cover casserole, then bake for about 45 minutes, until it starts to bubble. Remove the lid, and cook for until the top begins to brown, about another 15 minutes.

I bet you want to know how I cooked that steak, too.

I kinda cheated this time and used a free Worcestershire-Pepper sample seasoning that's been sitting in my cabinet for way too long. But the real success came from following Leslie's directions on how to cook it (she said to just use a little salt and pepper).

Heat the oven to 350, then heat a cast iron skillet over medium high heat until it just starts to smoke. Add about 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil, swirl to coat, then add the steaks and sear for about 4 minutes or until it starts to smell like it's cooked. Turn the steaks over and place in the oven for about 6-8 minutes, depending on the thickness.

I used beef loin New York steak from Costco that was about 1-1/2 inches thick, and they were perfect after 7 minutes in the oven. So much more even than grilling!