The Cooking Ninja

It seems like the Flu just can't stop from visiting us this winter : our poor daughter is running around blowing bubbles with her runny nose - she finds it very interesting (sigh!) and a nasty cough. Though it doesn't like it is bothering her too much. Now she likes to share her dirty hanky ... first she will wipe her nose and then she insists on wiping my nose and then Pierre's. Ugh!

Back to something more appetizing : one of the most classic French gratin is gratin dauphinois (originated from Dauphiné), made up of mainly potatoes and heavy cream (crème fraîche). There are many different ways of cooking it, some cook the potatoes with milk first before baking it, some just bake it with milk or just plain cream. Some (to the food snobs horror) even add grated cheese to it, making it something called gratin savoyard.

Gratin Dauphinois

Ingredients

• 1 kg potatoes (peeled & sliced)
• 5 tbsp heavy cream
• 1 clove garlic
• butter
• milk
• salt, pepper & ground nutmeg

Directions

1. Cut the garlic into half and rub the garlic all over the bottom and sides of a baking or gratin dish.
2. Then grease the bottom and sides of the dish with butter.
3. Wash the potatoes, peel off the skin and then use the food processor to cut them into thin slices.
4. Spread a layer of sliced potatoes on the dish and sprinkle on top of it with salt, pepper and ground nutmeg. Then lay another layer of potatoes and season it with salt, pepper and ground nutmeg. Repeat it until all the potatoes are used.
5. Mix milk and cream together until it is combined and liquid enough. Spread the mixture evenly all over the potatoes.
6. Bake in the oven at 210°C for about 45 minutes. The potatoes are cooked when the toothpick pierced through the gratin easily. If the top browns too quickly, lower the temperature slightly.

The Verdict

Well cooked, the potatoes litteraly melt in your mouth and the cream makes it even more smooth! It's a nice side dish to go with some red meat.

Notes

You can either spread the milk-cream mixture on top of the potatoes or you can spread a bit of the mixture on each layer of potatoes.

You can do different variations with this dish like sprinkling grated cheese and bread crumbs on top of it, however it will not be called gratin dauphinois anymore.