Ingredients
- Pommes Dauphinoise Gratin comes from the Dauphine region of France. It differs from Pommes Dauphinoise, which are deep fried choux pastry made with mashed potatoes.
- Traditionally the gratin version is made with very finely sliced raw potatoes layered and baked in cream. Slicing potatoes this fine requires a mandolin, which is not always available. Here I depart from tradition and parboil the potatoes before I bake them. This ensures the potatoes cook through in the oven.The addition of cheese and eggs varies in chefs' accounts.
- I do not use eggs but I do use cheese. This vegetarian dish is served with some variety of roast meat.
- You could also serve it with the Lentil salad recipe in my cookbook An Indian Sense of Salad (Penguin). You will need ideally an 8 inch square or round that is.5 inches deep. You can also use a 9 by 13 but you will get less layers.
- SERVES 5-6 AS A SIDE DISH
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 500ml double cream
- 500ml milk
- 3/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
- 4 garlic cloves, smashed
- 8 large cooking potatoes-ideally a waxy potato like Talegaon or Maris Piper
- salt and white pepper to taste
- 120g shredded gruyère or use a melting cheese
Instructions
- Heat oven to 190C/170C.
- Peel the potatoes and slice them into rounds about 1/4 inch thick.
- Place them in a wide and deep pan with the garlic, nutmeg, milk and cream and bring to a slow boil.
- As soon as it reaches a boil switch off the flame and using a slotted spoon remove the sliced potatoes from the liquid and put them on a plate. Do not over cook the potatoes. They must be soft but also keep their shape when baked.
- Butter gratin dish.
- Using tongs arrange potatoes in layers in a gratin dish.
- Add salt to the leftover cream and milk and adjust for taste. Stir in a little white pepper.
- Pour over the layered potatoes. Use a soup to make sure all the potatoes are well steeped in the liquid and bake in the oven for 35 minutes.
- Open oven and scatter the Gruyere cheese over the gratin and broil until golden brown.
- Serve immediately.
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