I came across this dish while reading one of Alexander McCall Smith's Isabel Dalhousie novels. I must have been really hungry at the time, as the description - potatoes, cream and garlic, baked in the oven - made me vow to obtain the recipe and make it. I had to look it up on the web, of course, and it seems that the right way to make these is without any cheese. Not to worry, though, the milk and cream lend a very 'cheesy' feature to them. I must say, despite their apparent simplicity, the Dauphinois turned out surprisingly rich in their taste: creamy, cheesy-like, with a bit of a smoky flavour. There was just a faint reminder of garlic, but all the same they tasted delicious. My son gobbled up two platefuls of these guys! They work wonderfully with a nice side salad, or a piece of meat, or sausages, for the satisfaction of the carnivorous :) The recipe I chose can be found here, although I didn't follow it exactly.
Ingredients:
2.5 lb (1 kg) potatoes
2 c (500 ml) milk
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg (optional)
1 clove garlic, sliced lengthwise
1/4 c (60 ml) heavy cream
1) Peel and rinse potatoes, then slice them thinly (it said 1/10th of an inch, or 3 mm - I used my mandolin slicer).
2) Without having rinsed the slices, place them in a pan, then add the milk, salt and nutmeg, if using. Cook on medium-low heat until they start to simmer and then stir and scrape bottom of pan regularly for another 8-10 minutes The milk will thicken and become creamy.
3) While potatoes are simmering, preheat oven to 430°F (220°C).
4) Rub the bottom or sides of a baking dish with the garlic.
5) Arrange half of the potatoes in the baking dish and drizzle with half of the cream. Follow with the rest of the potatoes, the cooking milk and lastly drizzle the rest of the cream on top.
6) Bake for 35-40 minutes, until bubbly and slightly browned (you can bake them longer, if you prefer them to be more brown). Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.
Ingredients:
2.5 lb (1 kg) potatoes
2 c (500 ml) milk
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg (optional)
1 clove garlic, sliced lengthwise
1/4 c (60 ml) heavy cream
1) Peel and rinse potatoes, then slice them thinly (it said 1/10th of an inch, or 3 mm - I used my mandolin slicer).
2) Without having rinsed the slices, place them in a pan, then add the milk, salt and nutmeg, if using. Cook on medium-low heat until they start to simmer and then stir and scrape bottom of pan regularly for another 8-10 minutes The milk will thicken and become creamy.
3) While potatoes are simmering, preheat oven to 430°F (220°C).
4) Rub the bottom or sides of a baking dish with the garlic.
5) Arrange half of the potatoes in the baking dish and drizzle with half of the cream. Follow with the rest of the potatoes, the cooking milk and lastly drizzle the rest of the cream on top.
6) Bake for 35-40 minutes, until bubbly and slightly browned (you can bake them longer, if you prefer them to be more brown). Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.
Yummy! That would be really nice with a side salad like you said.
ReplyDeleteYes, Ellie, as it happens we did make a salad last night to go with these (Romanian-style tomato, cucumber and onion) and the combo was delish. Gabe would probably like them, too :)
DeleteAnd, thanks for commenting :) I really enjoyed cooking together last weekend :) which would be nice to do more often, don't you think? Great fun!