Let's get a move on!

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 Gratin Dauphinoise - the only trouble is it's a lot of work and takes a long time to cook.

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.

You can adapt this to a plant based recipe using:

50g Flora Plant unsalted butter

400ml Elmlea 100% Plant Double Alternative

to cream

100g Parmesan alternative – for example

Violife Parmesan style

The simple things in life are the best!

To illustrate ...

Gratin Dauphinoise – the cheats version …

… but before I begin here's a tip or three!

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. The authentic recipe will follow!

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. The 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.

Whether you opt to make the cheats' version or the “real deal” Gratin Dauphinoise 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.

A useless bit of information for you - it was the custom in France back in the day to serve a dauphinoise as a first course on its own and then followed by meats as outlined above and a salad – every day is a school day!

Let's get a move on!

Something from nothing … raw

This time the core ingredients for the soup are raw – leeks, celery and onion.

The previous recipe produced a soup with texture - now I wanted to produce a smooth soup. Classically a Vichyssoise “style” fits the bill – a smooth, thick soup made with leeks, potatoes, cream and chicken stock. Most people think of Vichyssoise served cold and indeed it is usually – but it can be served hot too. A classic this is not - it's more a “thinking on your feet, variation on a theme” version.

Here's my recipe :

Soup de Ssoise

(i.e. not quite Vichy!!!)

Serves 4-6

One old potato, 2 leeks, remains of a bunch of celery

- approximately 4 sticks and one medium onion

One litre of stock + half a litre later, when thickening

as with the previous recipe I used 3 x Knorr chicken stock pots

Large pinch of Marjoram

Large pinch of Fines Herbes

Salt and black pepper.

Glug of rapeseed oil

Peel the potato, cut into cubes. Peel the leeks, celery and onion - chop finely.

Sweat the leeks, celery and onion in rapeseed oil with the herbs and salt and pepper until softened. Add the stock and the cubed potato and simmer until the vegetables are cooked – they should retain texture. Add the remaining stock.

Blend until smooth, taste, and adjust seasoning. Blend your soup in batches. To achieve a smooth consistency you may have to blend more than once. Test with a dessertspoon spoon. In each blended amount, dip the spoon into the soup, when removed the back of the spoon should be coated with a lump free liquid. Blend again to achieve the smooth consistency if necessary.

The finished soup should be thick and smooth.

Hints and tips :

If you have leftover cream – perfect – add a good slug!

Cooked or raw it's a great way to use up your veggies and/or bits of chicken if you have it.

News flash … you can now get “meat-free” chicken stock pots!

I hope I get a point or two, or at least a smile for the title of the soup.

There's more soup ...

Editor's February Pick #8: Stock Isn't Just For Soup

Editor's note: Speaking of spuds, after the ricer I got a hankering for something different with the good old spud! What follows is a delicious recipe that gives you perfect "Winter potatoes" - a welcome change from the norm! 

Your veggie stock isn't just for making soup.

There are excellent recipes using potatoes – try this one on for size, as they say.

Boulangere potatoes uses onions, fresh thyme, thinly sliced potatoes and veggie stock.

Boulangere potatoes

Serves 8

2 onions, sliced thinly

2 sprigs of fresh thyme

2 tbsp rapeseed oil

1½kg/3.3lbs of potatoes – Maris Piper

or Desirée, sliced thinly *see below

425ml/15fl oz/¾ pint of veggie stock

Pre-heat your oven 180fan/200c/Gas 6.

Fry the onions and thyme sprigs in the oil for 5 minutes.

Spread a layer of potatoes over the base of a 1.5litre oiled gratin dish. Sprinkle over a few onions and keep layering with the potatoes. Your top layer should be potato. Add your stock and bake until the potatoes are cooked and the top is golden and crisp. 50/60 minutes.

There is nothing to stop you prepping and part cooking this dish in advance – when time permits. Cook it for half the time. Remove from the oven, cool, cover with foil and fridge.

Supper the next day. Pre-heat your oven as above. Line a baking sheet with smoked back bacon – as much as you want to serve.

Place the potatoes and the bacon in the oven. Set your timer for 15 minutes, turn the bacon, repeat.

Enjoy!

Notes:

*If you wanted a couple of suggestions for a suitable US variety of potato, Yukon Gold or Russets (my favourite) would fit the bill.

Finally, a useless bit of information - do you know why they are called “Boulangere” potatoes?

I'm sure I'm stating the obvious. A “boulangerie” is a bakery “en francais”. There would be one bakery in a village. Villagers would take their potato dishes to the baker and they'd all be cooked in the one oven after the bread was baked for the day, making the best use of the ovens as they cooled down.

That's what I call organised!

Editor's January Pick #7: Here's a cure for the winter blues

Editor's note: It might not have escaped anyone's notice that it's Winter in the Northern Hemisphere at the moment, or as we say in the UK - it's business as usual. Now I don't know about you but when I'm cold and it's dark at 4pm and the urge for a snack strikes, it's hard to beat a Croque Monsieur. Read on for a different spin on the classic, and whatever you do, leave the "Toastie maker" in the cupboard.

Here's the sandwich - the “Croque” …

I'm sure you've heard of a Croque Monsieur – it's a baked, or more popularly, fried sandwich which forms a crispy crust but an oozing filling in the middle. Croque literally means “crunch” from the verb “croquer” - “to bite”.

Croque, sandwich, tartine, brushetta, crostini, whatever is your favourite they should all be treated with respect. My personal favourite is a toasted version so, for a decadent treat, here's my latest :

Croque Marianne

for 4 sandwiches

8 slices of medium wholemeal bread

4 tsps Dijon mustard

75g each of Gruyere and mature cheddar cheese, grated

1 medium onion, preferably sweet or mild flavour,

finely sliced and left raw

60g unsalted butter

Spread ½ tsp of mustard over each slice of bread. Spread the cheese onto 4 slices of bread followed by the onions. Sandwich together with the other 4 slices of bread.

Heat half the butter in a frying pan until foaming – you'll get two sandwiches in your frying pan – fry for 1-2 minutes on each side and then pop the croques onto a baking sheet and into the oven whilst you repeat using the remaining butter and two sandwiches.

You may think the onion would be harsh to the palate but I assure you it isn't, provided you use either a sweet or mild variety. The sharpness of the onion cuts through the richness of the cheese.

Serve with your fried potatoes and a salsa or beetroot chutney or even small chunk Branston.

Any leftovers wrap in foil and fridge. Pop into a pre-heated oven 200c/180fan/Gas 6 with your leftover potatoes for 10 minutes. As with the potatoes, some may say even better the next day – I can absolutely confirm you'll still get oozy delicious Croque Marianne!

Hot potatoes – a plan and the prep.

My “to do” list :

Boil the potatoes and cool, ready to slice when I'm not in a hurry. I made this my first job in the morning the day before the lunch. I softened the onion too. They had plenty of time to cool whilst I was doing other stuff. Later the same day I assembled the tartiflette and baked it for 45 minutes, cooled, covered and fridged it. It needs a further 15 minutes cooking time, uncovered, on the day. Big tick!

I mentioned too that I wouldn't be including the bacon in the recipe. I'll be serving bacon bits on the side – this way you cater for vegetarians too.

It matters not how much bacon you bake - you can use any leftover bits, as I did, for a Spanish omelette on another day. As a matter of principle in my kitchen I always make more than I think I need – why – because I'm automatically creating ingredients for lunches or suppers and half the work.

Back to the bits … line a baking sheet with rashers of bacon and bake on 180fan/200c/Gas 6 for 15 minutes, turn the bacon and repeat. Set aside to cool – it will be crispy, snap into tiny bits box and fridge. Another tick.

If there's one thing I love it's making the best use of my oven and saving myself time and stress into the bargain. You can bake your tart on the day and add your tartiflette too, you just need to set your timer for 25 minutes when the tart goes into the oven then add the tartiflette, uncovered for the remaining 15 minutes of tart cooking time. Don't worry that there's a slight difference in oven temperature, leave it at 180fan/200c/Gas 6 for the tart, they'll be perfectly crispy! The tartiflette shouldn't be served piping hot but warm to compliment the tart.

P.s. I'd be keeping my fingers crossed for leftovers – tartiflette is even better the following day warmed, creating even more crispy edges. Happy days.

More recipes from the menu – hot potatoes!

It's not compulsory to have hot or warm dishes - it's personal choice. If however you've never mixed hot with cold in a salad sense give it a go I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

The next recipe is the Tartiflette. I've already mentioned that it's a French dish - classically it uses Reblochon cheese. Reblochon is expensive but worth the treat so why not indulge - however it's quite difficult to source, especially if you live “in the sticks” like I do. If you need ideas for alternatives any cheese that melts easily will do the trick – two of my favourites are gruyere and taleggio – you could even use a ripe camembert.

Here's the traditional Tartiflette recipe which includes bacon – dry cured if at all possible :

Tartiflette

1.5kg/3lb 5oz all purpose potatoes, e.g. Desirée, peeled

and cut to a similar size

1 large onion, finely chopped

4 thick dry cured smoked streaky bacon rashers, finely chopped

50g/2oz butter

1 garlic clove or roasted garlic

250g/9oz Reblochon cheese, rind trimmed and removed

Pre-heat oven 160fan/180c/Gas 4.

Boil the potatoes until cooked, cool, then slice.

Melt the butter in a frying pan and cook the onion and bacon until softened. Cut the garlic clove in half and rub the inside of an ovenproof dish – or a foil version if more convenient – my dish measures 23x23x8cms – 9x9x3¼” . If you're using roasted garlic, spread it around the inside.

Place some of the potato slices in the bottom and season with salt and black pepper then layer with the onion and bacon, repeat until all the potato slices have been used, seasoning between each layer.

Chop the cheese and scatter over the potatoes and cover with foil. Bake in the oven for 1 hour, remove the foil for the remaining 15 minutes to enable the tartiflette to crisp around the edges.

The beauty of this dish is that it can be prepared ahead. If you're a lover of garlic then don't be afraid to increase the garlic to 2 tsps of roasted or 2 cloves when you're cooking the onions and bacon – rules are made to be broken.

Hot potatoes, a plan and the prep to follow!