Name: Truffled Parsnip Potato Gratin
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 75 min
Yield: 4 servings

A Southern chef with a scientific mind, Katie Button worked for some of the world's best chefs before opening her own restaurants to rave reviews. Receiving four James Beard nominations and many editorial features, she now inspires the at-home chef with her first cookbook of authentic Spanish recipes.

Katie Button

This parsnip potato gratin recipe is a standby. A rich and creamy gratin is a side dish that pairs well with almost any meal. The parsnips are great because they add earthiness and depth of flavor. Don’t skip the step of checking for doneness with a toothpick or fork. Different varieties of potatoes cook at different speeds, and you want to make sure that it’s done all the way through. The parmesan and panko together create a simple crispy crust that’s out of this world.

Katie Button's Truffled Parsnip Potato Gratin

Truffled Parsnip Potato Gratin

Meet The Creator

Do you like happiness? If you don’t, then this recipe isn’t for you. But if you do, then let’s make my macaroni and cheese together. This is the dish that put me on the map. It’s the one everyone talks about and the one that every person who comes over for dinner begs me to make. And the beauty is, it’s so simple. You’ll have friends begging you for this recipe.

Macaroni and Cheese

The first step to this recipe is to make a rich mushroom stock, which packs enormous mushroom flavor intensity, adding depth to any recipe where stock is used. When sourcing the fresh mushrooms, look for larger ones because they’ll hold up to the braise. Clusters of lion's mane, oyster mushrooms, and maitake mushrooms can often be found at specialty grocery stores (but white button mushrooms can be substituted). To prep them, pull apart the clusters into 3-inch chunks. The final product is an umami-filled dish with brightness from the orange juice. Enjoy it as a veggie-forward main or a hearty side dish.

Katie Button's Orange and Honey Braised Mushrooms

Orange and Honey Braised Mushrooms

“There are some meals you know are special because of the time they require or the long list of ingredients they call for. Other times, I find joy in recipes that can be as creative or straightforward as I want. The base of this recipe offers that flexibility. Flatbread is delicious with a simple, traditional hummus or dip, but I also love piling on veggies from the garden, or as this recipe calls for, a little bit of prosciutto and arugula.” — Joanna Gaines, Magnolia Table, Volume 3

Joanna Gaines' Balsamic-Glazed Prosciutto Flatbread

Balsamic-Glazed Prosciutto Flatbread

What we love most about this tortilla soup recipe is that it’s not only easy to make, but it’s also very customizable. Add or subtract as many toppings as you

Tortilla Soup Recipe

I am always super-excited when fresh cherries show up at the markets! These little stone fruits burst with flavor and are only here for a short time, so I love to enjoy them as much as possible. Scones are an easy, quick way to make something special for breakfast, and I think they are best with fresh fruit in them.

Elizabeth Poett's Cherry-Almond Scones Drizzled with White Chocolate

Cherry-Almond Scones Drizzled with White Chocolate

Roasted carrots are a crazy-simple side dish. There are a couple of things to remember to make them delicious: keep the oven hot enough to develop some caramelization; look for carrots that are consistent in size so they cook at the same rate; don’t worry about peeling them — a little scrub under running water does the trick. This recipe dresses the simple roasted carrots with a tasty sauce that’s tangy from vinegar and orange juice, with depth and sweetness from maple syrup.

Katie Button's Orange and Maple-Glazed Carrots

Roasted Carrots with Orange-Maple Glaze

Chicken Marsala is one of my dad’s favorite dishes. I learned to make this recipe by cooking it for him over time. This recipe has a really delicious balance of Marsala, mushrooms, garlic, and lemon. It’s an easy stovetop meal that can be made quickly, but is satisfying and rich in flavor.

Chicken Marsala

Pasta carbonara is something I make all the time at home. And tossing in kelp and lobster took it to a whole new level. You can leave those ingredients out or substitute them for something else to get creative. But the briny and buttery flavor that the kelp and lobster bring to this dish is divine.

Katie's Pasta Carbonara with Kelp and Lobster

I love peaches! My godmother came for a visit on the ranch recently and reminded me about this classic dish. It is such a simple and wonderful way to enjoy summer fruit when it is abundant and at peak flavor. One of my favorite things about making a buckle is the way the batter buckles over and around the fruit as it bakes, making the most scrumptious, chewy, buttery top layer.

Elizabeth Poett's Peach Buckle with Homemade Caramel Sauce and Whipped Cream

Peach Buckle with Homemade Caramel Sauce and Whipped Cream

This sweet, smoky, spicy salsa is a great accompaniment to a classic grilled tri-tip. It’s also great on its own with tortilla chips or as an addition to tacos, steaks, or eggs. (When I make it, I try to keep some around for breakfast the next morning, but it’s so good that we usually end up eating it all at dinner.) The key to the salsa’s complex flavor is to grill the vegetables so that their skin gets a nice charred, smoky flavor; then add some fresh sweet corn. If you want to make the salsa without firing up the grill, you can get a similar result by toasting your vegetables over a flame on the stove or blackening them a bit under the broiler.

Fire Roasted Salsa

I had a version of this citrus guacamole at a restaurant that is no longer open, and it was so delicious that I created my own version. The pop of citrus in your mouth is unexpected and pairs beautifully with the rich butteriness of avocados. The flavors keep building as you eat it. You can use oranges, grapefruits, or whatever your favorite citrus fruit is! I’m sure you’ll love this recipe so much it will become your go-to guac recipe.

Citrus Guacamole

These bars are simple to make and so scrumptious that they seem to disappear in seconds. The layers of dark chocolate, white chocolate, and butterscotch meld with the coconut, walnuts, and sweetened condensed milk for a rich, buttery caramel flavor. You can switch up the types of chocolate and the nuts to make this with your favorites. These are great for feeding a crowd and are easy to make a day ahead of time. They’re fun to bring to a potluck and they travel well. All in all they’re a decadent dessert that doesn't need to be served on a plate.

Elizabeth’s Magic Layer Bars

Roasted mushrooms are one of my favorite dishes to make when hosting friends for dinner because it's so easy to throw them on a sheet pan and let the oven do the work. You can really build on the richness of the mushrooms by pairing it with a simple vinaigrette. As with the Honey Mustard-Glazed Pork Tenderloin, this was inspired by a dish in The Fresh Honey Cookbook by one of my dear late friends, Laurey Masterton. Laurey was wildly passionate about a lot of things, and one of those was bees and honey. It was an honor to be able to recreate some of Laurey's dishes for a dinner on From the Source, incorporating a few of my own touches along the way.

Katie Button's Roasted Mushrooms with Honey Vinaigrette

Roasted Mushrooms with Honey Vinaigrette

I find myself using chicken stock in my cooking almost every day. I use a jar of stock to make rice and pasta dishes, and to make soups and stews. It is a quick and simple way to elevate the flavor of a dish. The best way to do this is to make a big pot of stock, process it in a pressure canner, and stock your pantry with the jars. It is fun to make this recipe on a cold day when you are getting things done around the house, since the stock simmers on the stove for a long time.

Chicken Stock

Coming into fresh truffles is a special moment. The flavor and aroma are woodsy and strong and make an incredible addition to a variety of dishes. One of the best ways to extend the enjoyment of a truffle is to incorporate it into butter that can be stored in the refrigerator or freezer for a wide variety of future applications. Check out my Truffle Butter Roasted Chicken recipe, swirl it into your favorite pasta for a weeknight meal, or melt over steak, still hot from the grill. YUM!

Truffle Butter

I could eat this vegetable strata every week and never tire of it. The layer of bread at the bottom of the dish soaks up the cheese blend while it bakes, so that each slice is full of many delicious flavors. I like to bring this to a weekend brunch or potluck because it’s one of those unexpected dishes that inevitably ends up being devoured well before any of the usual favorites.

Zucchini Squash Strata

These are, hands down, my kids’ favorite breakfast. Who am I kidding? They’re my favorite, too, especially when served alongside eggs—I can’t get enough of that combination of sweet and salty. These are definitely a labor of love, but honestly I think we all enjoy preparing them almost as much as we like to eat them. I’m in my happy place anytime I get to work with dough. Mixing the ingredients together into a cohesive whole, draping a towel over the bowl and letting the dough rise, punching it down, and then rolling, filling, and shaping it—the ritual of every step brings me pure joy. Whenever I bust out the ingredients for these squares, the kids know it’s a good day. I make these a lot during school holidays when there’s time in the morning for them to help. Duke and Emmie stand at attention with the measured ingredients waiting for the sign from me that they can dump them into the bowl, and then the older two help me roll out the dough and compose each layer. Drake loves that he’s finally allowed to use a big knife to cut the squares before they’re baked, and then he and Ella apply the egg wash to the tops of them. The kids understand that the bit of extra effort required for these squares makes them something really special.



I think it probably helps that these squares are the best iteration of a cinnamon roll that any of us has ever tasted. It can be hard to get a good balance with cinnamon rolls—they either have too much bread or too much cinnamon. The way I make these, rolling and folding them repeatedly so that the filling is between several thin layers of dough, results in a square that has a perfect amount of both bread and cinnamon, so every bite is balanced.

Cinnamon Squares

Home matters. For Chip and me, there is nothing more valuable or essential to our well-being than the way our family feels when we are home. This philosophy

Introducing: Hotel 1928

I love to eat all kinds of food, but in all honesty if you told me I could have only one thing every day for the rest of my life, it would be mac and cheese. I realize this is exactly the choice that many eight-year-olds I know would make, and I’m okay with that. I first had this recipe, which has become my favorite, at my friend Becki’s house. Her family has become a part of our own, and she knows just how much I love mac and cheese. It has become a tradition of ours that every time we join her family for dinner at their house, she makes this side for us. It’s simple and creamy enough to please all the kids, while the blend of cheeses and optional crispy panko topping makes it feel interesting to adults. Since I started making this recipe for my own family, my favorite things to pair it with are Almond Chicken Tenderloins (page 211) or Meat Loaf (page 259).

Becki's Mac and Cheese

Every time I pull a jar of these pickles off the shelf, I am so happy I took the time to make them. They are a wonderful addition to many kinds of sandwiches. I often put them on the table at a barbecue so that people can snack on them and add a little something salty to their plates. This is a fun and simple project to do on your own or with your family.