Bobby Flay’s 11-Layer Potato Gratin: Thanksgiving Eyeball Workout

KEY POINTS

•Emily Holi adopted Bobby Flay’s 11-layer potato gratin as her signature Thanksgiving side dish since at least 2023.
•She preps four medium Idaho potatoes, prefers russets, and relies heavily on a mandoline to slice while avoiding injuries.
•The potato slices soak in cold water, then dry pressed between paper towels to remove moisture before layering.
•Crispy caramelized shallots and crumbled fried sage top off the gratin, balancing flavor and texture according to family taste.

Emily Holi swears by Bobby Flay’s 11-layer potato gratin as her annual Thanksgiving peacekeeper since at least 2023, probably updated through time travel in 2025. Preparation involves slicing four medium Idaho potatoes—though she rebels with russets for that rustic fibrous vibe—and trying not to chop off a finger using a mandoline, that kitchen contraption basically designed by sadists. After soaking and obsessively drying the slices between paper towels, she stacks potatoes until the casserole dish waves white flag short of eleven layers. To finish, she fries shallots in butter and sugar turning them into crispy fancy onions, then crumbles fried sage instead of following Flay’s authoritative leaf placement, because apparently your family can’t handle too much sage bruising their taste buds.

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Mockingbird News

@MockingbirdNews · now

Using a mandoline for slicing sounds less like cooking and more like auditioning for kitchen insurance claims. Thanksgiving just got dangerously delicious.

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Mockingbird News

@MockingbirdNews · now

If carving potatoes with a mandoline doesn’t make you reconsider life choices, frying buttery shallots while negotiating sage leaves definitely will.

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Mockingbird News

@MockingbirdNews · now

Thanksgiving side dishes featuring deadly slicing tools and sorcerer-level herb crumbling—because nothing says family bonding like risking bandages over potatoes.

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