I knew nothing of April Bloomfield until I began to work my way through the Gourmet Live list of Women Game Changers in Food last year. At that time she was executive chef of the Breslin and the Spotted Pig in New York City, and I decided to make the ricotta pancakes that had helped to make her eclectic style of cooking famous. I loved the pancakes, as did my family, so I began to clip her recipes whenever I came across one that could be made in a home kitchen. I tend to do a lot of Scandinavian cooking at this time of year, and in that stash of recipes I had been collecting was one for Jansen's Temptation, a Swedish potato gratin that is made with heavy cream and anchovies. I made the dish this past weekend and was really pleased with the results. As is my habit, first time through, a recipe is always made to the developer's specification. Theme and variation are saved for later performances. This is a delicious dish, but next time I prepare it, I'll use light cream or half-and-half to make the cream base in which the potatoes cook. While I found the gratin to be overly rich, the Silver Fox loved it, so, despite its creamy excess, it will again appear on my table, though in a somewhat lightened form. The flavor of the infused cream, which contains onions, anchovies and fennel, is a wonderful and the dish is not difficult to make. I hope you will give this remarkable recipe a try. I think you will be delighted with this Swedish classic. Here's how Jansen's Temptation is made.

Jansen's Temptation

Ingredients:

2 cups cream

3 cloves garlic, quartered

2 tablespoons thyme, plus a little extra for garnish

1-3/4 ounces anchovy fillets, plus 4 extra for garnish

2/3 teaspoon ground fennel

4 tablespoons butter

2 peeled onions, sliced thinly

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

4 to 6 Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into sixths

Bread crumbs, as needed

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

2) To prepare cream base, bring cream, garlic, thyme, anchovies, and fennel to a boil. Remove from heat and let ingredients infuse for 10 minutes. Once cooled, pur