The real deal – a photo guide

 

thinly sliced potatoes – I used Charlottes

rinsed thoroughly and dried in a clean

tea towel

prepped and ready for the oven

out of the oven, ready to roll!

Next – brown paper packages tied up with string …

The real deal – hints, tips and kitchen kit

You can make a larger dauphinoise using the dish measurements already given in “Zhuzh your leftovers” and upping the recipe – 1.350g/3lb of potatoes and adding 725ml/1¼ pints of of cream – ensure your dish is filled to within 2cms/¾” from the top.

You can save yourself time if you like prepping ahead. I peeled the potatoes, placing them immediately into a bowl of cold water, ready to rinse and dry. I didn't use a mandoline – unless you're proficient and a lover of washing up difficult kit with deadly blades I'd suggest a smaller, but effective alternative – an onion & potato holder. Such holder secures the peeled potato thus enabling you to slice the potatoes thinly and evenly.

Here it is :

You can pay as little as £2 – I chose the one shown because it's food grade stainless steel - £7.99 – more robust for frequent use!

As for the number of serves you'll get – for the smaller version it depends on the appetites so could be 3 or 4 – I'd go 3 but it depends on what else you're serving. The larger version will give you between 6 or 8.

My tester has already had the “cheats way” version which she served with ham hock. I have done a doorstep delivery of the “real deal” this morning … watch this space for the verdict!

Photo guide up next

The real deal – gratin dauphinois

450g/1lb waxy potatoes – peeled and sliced

no thicker than a two penny piece

300ml/10fl oz/½ pint of double cream

unsalted butter for greasing your dish

knobs of unsalted butter to scatter over the

completed gratin – a 30g slice divided into six

2 cloves of roasted garlic

celery salt and black pepper to season

Pre-heat the oven 130f/150c/Gas 2.

Rinse the potatoes thoroughly in cold water, shake them dry in a clean tea towel. Grease the baking dish generously with unsalted butter and add the garlic.

Layer the potatoes in your dish, season well, pour over the cream and then add the knobs of butter.

Bake in the oven for 1½ hours. Set your timer for 1 hour 20 minutes – for the remaining 10 minutes turn the oven up to high for a golden crust.

Hints and tips and kitchen kit up next ...

Zhuzh your leftovers … and the real deal

Whether you opt to make the cheats' version or the real Gratin Dauphinois it would take your leftover roast of beef, pork or chicken (or a Quorn alternative for the veggies) to a whole new level. It doesn't have to be leftover roast, you could choose a selection of charcuterie i.e. a combination of cooked and cured meats – ham hock or gammon would be perfect too. I'd definitely serve with a relish - beetroot would be an excellent choice – the sharpness of the beetroot against the richness of either version - cheats or real deal.

It has to be the easiest and tastiest Monday evening supper ever.

It was the custom in France back in the day to serve an authentic dauphinois as a first course on its own and then followed by meats as outlined above and a salad.

I remember years ago watching James Martin make a huge dishful of dauphinois – deliberately creating leftovers - as a guide the dish measured 23x23x5cms/9x9x2”. The next day he re-heated what was left, still in its original dish, preheating the oven 140fan/160c/Gas 4 for 15 minutes, to crisp the edges - he then promptly devoured the remains straight from the dish. There's only one drawback – the dish will have to be soaked before washing properly – is it worth it – without question!

There are heaps of recipes out there for dauphinois – the one I use belongs to Elizabeth David and in her immortal words, defending extravagance …

“if it seems to the thrifty minded outrageously

extravagant to use half a pint of cream to one pound

of potatoes, I can only say that to me it seems a more

satisfactory way of enjoying cream than pouring it over

tinned peaches or chocolate mousse”

Taken from “French Provincial Cooking” published

in 1960 – that's 60 years ago – gulp!

Absolutely spot on.

Now for the real deal a la Elizabeth David …

The final photos and advantages using the “cheats' way”

 Bake for 30 minutes until it looks like this :

AFTER THE OVEN

after the oven – ready to devour

I'm really sorry you don't get the waft

of cheese and cream!

MY FAVOURITE COMFORT BOWL

my favourite comfort bowl

It's a great way to make use of baked jacket potatoes – as I'm fond of saying, if my oven is turned on I make the best use of the space and so always bake at least four potatoes, sometimes six at a time. All you have to do is peel and slice – what's not to love.

The Alfredo sauce can be made ahead and fridged until ready to use.

It's fast and it's easy – it may not be authentic but if you've not got the time it takes to prep and cook the real deal then this is for you.

Next – zhuzh your leftovers and the real deal!

Assembly - the cheats' way

 The best way to illustrate assembly is to give you a photo guide :

thinly sliced cooked jackets – baked at your

convenience, then cooled – peeled and sliced at

your convenience too

here's the dish – greased generously with unsalted

butter and then the roasted garlic, dotted around

my dish is cast iron and measures 24cms/9½” x 17cms/6½”

x 5cms/2” deep

Pre-heat the oven 180fan/200c/Gas 6 when you are ready to bake.

you'll get two layers of potato, divide in half, place

the first layer in the bottom of the dish, add a sprinkle

of celery salt and black pepper then spread half the

quantity of Alfredo sauce – repeat!

… the final photos and the advantages to follow

The humble potato

Weekend suppers should be special but not involve hours of prep and stress. Everyone has a favourite “comfort” ingredient and mine has to be potatoes. Probably my favourite indulgent potato dish is “Dauphinoise” the only trouble is it's a lot of work and takes a long time to cook.

For the uninitiated Dauphinoise is a classic French potato dish made simply with thin slices of potato and double cream. It takes time and technique since the potatoes have to be raw wafer thin slices and to achieve said thin slices you need to use a mandolin – not an easy piece of kit but we'll come to that later.

In the meantime, here's my solution – cheat!

Dauphinoise – the cheats' way

3 large jacket potatoes, baked, cooled then

peeled and sliced thinly – as a guide 500g

I used Maris Piper potatoes, they become waxy in texture when baked and are easy to slice thinly and become sticky - easy to arrange.

a sprinkle of celery salt and black pepper

two roasted cloves of garlic

large knob of unsalted butter for greasing

400ml double cream

You'll need a heavy earthenware or cast iron

serving dish

Alfredo Sauce

double the quantities given in the original recipe

50g unsalted butter

400ml double cream

100g freshly grated Parmesan

freshly ground black pepper

Gently heat the butter and the cream together, stirring until the butter has melted, then add the Parmesan.

Slowly bring to a gentle boil, turn down the heat and simmer, stir continuously for a minute or so until you have a smooth, creamy sauce, season.

This sauce can be made ahead, cooled, boxed and fridged or you can freeze it.

Assembly and photos next!