Salmon and root vegetable gratin with infused thyme

slow cooked in low oven for 2 hours equals one happy Goat

okay, who is with me? Gratin, love it or just about LOVEEEE it! Oh, can you ever go wrong with a dish of creamy goodness.Layer after layer of starch heaven slathered in caramelized onions poached in  infused heavy cream, garlic and thyme of course  butter and cheese. Slow baked until just perfect?

The other day Lilla A's Godmother L. and sir P. Came to celebrate his 6 th birthday with a traditional Swedish meal. Ham Hock and root vegetable mash. ( will post at a later date) and of course the Goat is a goat and only eats some creatures from the sea. Namely salmon and their  little friends...He's actually a pesco-vegetarian eats fish etc... So.. I needed to cook him a meal as well. This is what I came up with using all the same ingredients for the meat eaters, just substituting  the ham hock for fresh  salmon. 

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

2 small salmon file sliced in strips

6-8 medium gratin potatoes ones good for mashing work well here as well thinly sliced

1/4 head of turnip thinly sliced

1-2 large carrots thinly sliced

1 yellow onion thinly sliced

2 garlic cloves, grated

1 cup of strong flavored cheese

3 tablespoons butter (½ tablespoon to grease the oven dish)

1½ cups of heavy cream

1 cup of half and half or 27% fat cream

½ cup of full fat milk-or 2%

1 teaspoon of dried thyme or 2 sprigs of fresh

salt and pepper

Method for infused cream:

In a frying pan melt butter over medium low heat. Add in your sliced onions and continue to cook until they are golden and somewhat caramelized.Pour in your liquids and reduce heat to the lowest setting. Add your thyme and salt and pepper, and grate in your garlic.Turn off heat but let  it sit to cool on the burner.

let rest with all the goodness for at least 20 minutes

Norwegian Salmon 

almost ready for the oven. Just add cheese and cover

Slice your salmon into slices and season with salt and pepper set aside. Grease your oven dish. I used an dutch oven, and begin to layer your root vegetables remembering to sprinkle a little salt and pepper and dried thyme over each layer as you proceed(using a light hand).Layer a few slices of  fish and continue to layer until your top layer is just of root vegetables. Pour over the infused mixture(if using fresh thyme remove the sprigs) and if you have not enough infused cream just top it up with more cream or full fat milk.


 Cover with the grated cheese and add a doamed lid(so cheese does not stick to it) If using tin foil. Wait with the cheese and cover and let cook for 2 hours at 180 degrees C and then when you can slide a wooden skewer or fork through to the bottom of the dish easily then you can remove the tin foil and add the cheese and let bake until nice and browned in an 100 degree c oven. Let stand 15 minutes before serving.

The Goat and Miss L loved this to bits. (Sir P is allergic to fish,) so we all had a fantastic dinner and a lot of good laughs. Evenings like this is exactly why I started this blog. To be able to share my cooking with people as if they were guests in my kitchen. Warm hearts to you all.Enjoy