For this second holiday dish in our Mexican-fusion holiday meal we made a typical yukon gold gratin but layered in roasted anaheim and poblano chiles as well as thinly sliced fennel to create an uber-decadent side dish.

For this dish I really wanted something that emulated the creamy delicious rajas we get at El Callejon, a Mexican restaurant in Encinitas. Rajas, as we know them, are a Mexican side dish of stewed chiles in cream. I figured what better way to get the sensation of rajas but also have a classic holiday potato dish than to have the chiles “stew” in the cream while the gratin is baking. There’s no getting around how incredibly rich this side dish is and there’s also no getting around how freaking delicious it is either! Whether it’s for Thanksgiving, Christmas or any old night this gratin is worth giving a whirl.

Recipes in this post:

• Cheesy Chile, Fennel & Potato Gratin

Related posts:

1. Butternut Squash Succotash w/ Sage Brown Butter
2. Kickass Mexican Chorizo Cornbread Stuffing
3. Holiday Recipes: Chipotle Cumin Cranberry Sauce

We’re eating a wild mushroom and young garlic gratin chock full of crimini, king trumpet, brown beech & oyster mushrooms and topped with a decadent blue cheese, macadamia nut, herb & oat crumb topping.

It was this topping that actually inspired the entire dish. What started out being a topping for a savory pear crisp was just too good to leave alone. Almost immediately after making the crisp, I knew I wanted to eat more of that yummy blue cheesy crumble topping and this time, it would have to be used in a completely savory application. Thus the emergence of this dish. We think that pretty much anyone who tries this and isn’t a freak (freak=one who dislikes mushrooms and blue cheese in this case) is gonna love it! We sure did.

Recipes in this post:

• Wild Mushroom Gratin w/ Macadamia Nut-Blue Cheese Topping

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