STARCH AND DAIRY...CLASSIC:

Made for each other: Together, potatoes and cheese soothe the most winter-weary soul. (Regina Schrambling, ,January 12, 2005, LA Times)

Cheese and potatoes are just the ultimate winter ingredients. As irresistible as they each are alone and in any other season, as a team they have the power to cheer you up or calm you down. Both are soothing and easy to eat, not to mention rib-sticking in the best wintry way. The fact that almost any cheese is even better melted only adds to the appeal.

All things starchy go with cheese, whether bread or tortillas, rice or pasta, but potatoes meld with it like no other carbohydrates. They're also sturdy enough to absorb all the rich creaminess you can throw at them. No place knows that better than Old Europe, which got the potato rather late in life from South America but has produced many classic cheese pairings.

Probably the most famous are gratins, the prototype for American scalloped potatoes, which can be almost obscenely rich and hearty. But potatoes also get mixed up with cheese in pierogi, the Polish answer to ravioli and the ultimate example of the whole adding up to more than the parts, and in airy but oozy gnocchi, with Gorgonzola adding its blue bite. [...]

Three-cheese potato gratin

Total time: About 2 hours

Servings: 6

1 tablespoon butter

1 clove garlic

1/4 cup crumbled Gorgonzola

1/2 cup grated fontina

3/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, divided

2 pounds Yukon Gold or russet potatoes, divided

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1 cup heavy cream

1. Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Butter an 8-by-12-inch square or oval gratin pan. Cut the garlic in half and rub the cut side all over the interior of the pan. Set aside.

2. Combine the Gorgonzola with the fontina and one-fourth cup Parmigiano-Reggiano. Set aside.

3. Peel the potatoes and place them in cold water. Remove 2 potatoes and pat dry. Thinly slice them and overlap the slices in the gratin dish. Season well with salt and pepper to taste. Distribute the combined cheeses evenly over the potatoes. Thinly slice the remaining potatoes and layer them over the cheese. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.

4. Pour the cream evenly over the potatoes. Distribute the remaining Parmigiano-Reggiano evenly over the cream.

5. Bake 1 hour, 15 minutes, until the cream is bubbly, the top is well browned and the potatoes are tender. Let stand for 5 minutes before cutting into squares to serve.

Or just a super-sized fries from Mickey-D's and a jar of microwaved Cheez-wiz.

Posted by Orrin Judd at January 12, 2005 8:38 AM