Gratin de Pommes de Terre (Creamy Potatoes Gratin)

This is a classic French dish that can be served as a main meal or as an accompaniment to any type of roast. We had some this Saturday night as a main meal with a large salad on the side, a mix of lettuce and radish greens from the garden, and of course French bread.
Gratin refers to the golden crust on top of a dish. There are as many recipes for this dish as there are regions in France. The recipe I chose today uses béchamel sauce. It is creamy and cheesy and easy to make. You don’t even need to pre-cook the potatoes. Slice the potatoes as thinly as you can so the cooking time will be shorter.
The only difficulty to this recipe is the béchamel sauce. Few tips: heat the milk and incorporate a little at a time into the flour and butter. If you still end up with a lumpy sauce, use a hand blender to thin it.
Serve the gratin potatoes in its baking dish.

This recipe should serve 3 if you have it as a main course.

Ingredients
2 lb. yellow flesh potatoes, peeled and sliced thinly
3 cups warm milk
3 tablespoons flour
¼ cup butter
Salt and pepper (optional: nutmeg to taste)
4 cups shredded cheese (Gruyere, Emmental or Jarlsberg)
2 eggs

Directions
Preheat the oven to 375F

Make a Béchamel sauce

1. Melt half the butter in a large saucepan.
2. Whisk the flour and cook few minutes on low to medium heat.
3. Remove from heat and gradually add the milk, continuously whisking until the mixture is smooth.
4. Return to heat and cook 3-4 minutes more, still stirring.
5. Add seasoning. Remove from heat, stir in 3 cups cheese and mix well.

Assembling the Gratin

1. Take an ovenproof gratin dish and grease it with a little bit of the butter.
2. Layer half the potatoes, slightly overlapping the slices, season with salt and pepper.
3. Pour half of the béchamel over the potatoes.
4. Add the remaining potatoes, season with salt and pepper.
5. Add the remaining butter in small pieces all over, and the remaining béchamel. 
6. Cover with foil and bake 50 minutes or until the potatoes are soft. 
7. Remove the foil. Beat the eggs with 2 tablespoons milk and remaining cheese (4th cup.) 
8. Pour the egg mixture evenly on top of the potatoes. 
9. Put back in the oven for another 30 minutes or until the top is crispy and golden brown.