Rutabaga and Potato Gratin

4 stars-me
2 stars-my husband (he said it was ok, but not for his taste and he did eat it)

Rutabaga and Potato Gratin

If you remember my post from here I realized my oven was broke just as I was putting this dish in there.  I had to get creative a bit to figure out how I was going to cook this new dish.  I have never had rutabaga before the other day. I was pleasantly surprised that I like it. It really has an unique taste.  Somewhat like a turnip or a squash I think, but texture like a potato.  Its not a very strong flavor either, at least not how I have cooked it.  I will try to incorporate it into our meals more from now on. 
So getting this dish cooked, I could have either taking it to a neighbors house and borrowed their oven, but I decided to give out my NU-wave oven a try for something like this.  I kept it covered the entire time, and actually it did very well, but did take a bit longer than I expected because the NU-wave is supposed to cook faster, or that is my understanding.

The next time I make this dish, I will make a few changes, like not adding butter or cream cheese.  I was not following any recipes per say on this dish, but knew I wanted a very cheesy gratin. The cream cheese did not cook well I think, maybe if I had mixed it with the milk it would have been better. Also, most gratins call for heavy cream and I didnt have any, so I used milk, I think that makes a difference as well, not a lot but mine was more runny, but also still could have been from the butter I used.
The flavor is very nice for this dish, creamy and cheesy is exactly what I wanted.

Over all I was very please with this and am so happy to have tried a new vegetable.  I still have to wait and see if my husband and my oldest son likes it, and I will not be telling them that it has rutabaga in it until after they eat it. :)

Rutabaga and Potato Gratin

Ingredients:
1 rutabaga (peeled, sliced thinly)
4 small potatoes (peeled, sliced thinly)
1 cup heavy cream
2 cloves garlic (chopped)

2 tablespoons green onion (chopped)
1 teaspoon thyme (chopped)
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups cheese, (cheddar or others)

Directions:
Heat the sliced rutabaga in boiling water for 3 minutes and set aside.
Pour a bit of the cream into the bottom of a casserole dish.
Place a layer of rutabaga and potatoes on top, followed by some cream and some cheese. Continue to layer ending with a layer of cheese.
Bake in a preheated 350F oven until bubbling on the sides and golden brown on top, about 40-60 minutes.

Rutabaga and Potato Gratin