Chef John's Root Vegetable Gratin

This was an epic fail. Thank goodness it was just the two of us and did not have company for dinner. I read the recipe, watched the video and re-read the recipe. In my mind, I was questioning the amount of broth that the recipe calls for. Indeed, I was correct. After having baked for a total 80 minutes and then rested for 20 minutes the vegetables were sitting in a pool of milky liquid. I had to scoop out some of the vegetables, drain the liquid, make a roux and thicken the liquid. Still, the flavor of the dish was lacking. Because the vegetables were not seasoned while cooking there was just no way to season them properly. 1 - 1/4 cups cream, NO broth, add onion and season the vegetables after blanching in the salted water would fix this. But that would be a different recipe, wouldn't it?

Oh, my goodness. This is good! I have never in my 53 years tasted a celery root or a rutabaga, so I had my reservations. The hubby was convinced that he would not like this. But....it's a winner. As usual, I made variations based on what I had on hand, but pretty much followed the recipe as is. I was not able to find a yukon gold potato (what???) so used 3 good sized red potatoes. The turnips that I found were smallish, so I used 2. The parsnips that I found were skinny, so I used 3. Celery root??? I guessed it was about the right size, so I went with it as I did with the rutabaga. Prepped all as in Chef John's video. For those that found that they wound up with a "watery mess"...my best suggestion is to simmer your sauce down for more than 5 minutes. Common sense, my fellow cooks! I simmered mine LOW for probably 20 minutes until it had begun to thicken some. I also added a bit more salt (after taking a taste of the blanched veggies) to the sauce and a light sprinkle over the top of the veggies in the baking dish before I poured the sauce over. As usual, I had to use regular old parmesean from the can. The rest time is important. The casserole tightened up a good bit during the resting. This is SO good. Because of personal taste, next time, I'll probably leave off the rutabaga and celery root. Lots of lefties, and I look forward to re-warming and serving with a poached egg as Chef John suggested in his potato and parsnip gratin recipe.

Good way to sneak in the root veggies. Followed the recipe with a little extra added cheese, but felt it lacked a little kick, despite the cayenne. Thinking I might add some jalapeno next time.

After 90 minutes in the oven (first at 375, later at 425; first covered, then uncovered, then covered) I scooped out lots of liquid, topped off the now almost dry vegetables with more parmesan put it back in the oven (425) to achieve a beautiful golden crust. As I had already supplemented the recipe with more garlic, salt & pepper and onion, the dish was a hit.

This is really good!! I followed the recipe except I didn't have any parmigiano-reggiano cheese so I used 3/4 cup marble cheese. I am not a big fan of thyme so I only put in a pinch. I will definately make this again!!! Alot better than just plain old boiled turnip!

Thank you again Chef John; really excellent. In Canada we call the big guys Turnip. Not sure what the little guys with the purple tops are called. But I adjusted. I also cooked it about twice as long. did first bake in the morning to get everyone curious. Then finished it as dinner approached and they were really curious. Beautiful, flavours blended. Vegetable liquour in the bottom of the dish. Crispy top.

I’ve been looking for a way to incorporate new foods into my diet so this was an exciting recipe to try. It did not disappoint. It was tasty and appealing. My wife, kids, and I recommend it.

Watery mess. No flavor. After all that cook time all I could to was cover the top layer in some cheese and serve just those top half. Flavorless. Had the salt & parm on the table. If people are seasoning food on my table, Its bad.

Used white turnips, celery root and red potatoes. Also used 8 oz cream and 1/2 chicken stock so less than recipe called for but turned out to be the perfect amount of liquid. Really good!

This was good although I think next time I'll make a roux and a larger amount of it to pour over vegies. After all the boiling and baking the vegetables were still not cooked and I sliced them thin as directed. I think there was not enough liquid around vegies to cook them properly. Thanks Chef John.

I doubled the recipe for a large gathering for Father’s Day, and someone asked if it was potato soup! It was a complete fail. It was bland and labor intensive.

This is too good. I have never cooked a celeriac (celery root) before but it was delicious in this recipe. I find the reviews very helpful and was very conscious of ensuring that the water was well salted as per instructions and the veg were not too wet. I dried them on a paper towel after cooling them in ice water. Didmt have enough cream so added some sour cream to make one cup. Results were a perfect scalloped root veg dish. Not disappointed.

I had to cheat waaay beyond potatoes... because of my husband's kidney stones, we are on a low-oxalate diet, so no potatoes, no parsnips, no rutabaga... but I used celery root & carrots 1/8"... I also used evaporatetd milk in place of heavy cream... so my 4 stars are probably not fair. But I will do this again w/ less liquid. I served w/ IP chicken thighs, a mushroom/onion/garlic/kale concoction.

It was a tad soupy as listed. I reduced liquid and added cheese and it was great.

So yummy !

I read the critiques that said it was too bland and swimming in liquid. So I upped all the flavorings to at least double, and put massive amounts of salt in the blanching water. That helps, it had good flavor. And I tried to cook the sauce a bit longer, drained the veggies on paper towel, and cooked it longer (wasn't browned anyway after 1h10min) and at higher heat for the last 5 min. Still swimming in watery liquid. Still tastes good, but not creamy enough. Chef, something is off with this recipe. Maybe just a bit of roux in with the initial sauce? I actually like it, but the wateriness needs fixing. Also maybe needs longer cooking at higher temp (veggies were cooked but far from overcooked)?