Spuds-we-like

More unidentifiable objects from the Cornflower kitchen.

No prizes for guessing, but above is a broccoli floret, and top, slices of potato.

I was reading Tara's post from a couple of days ago about the wonderful galette she'd made, and it piqued the appetite so much that I rushed off to the shops intent on following her lead. But there was no Gruyere to be had, so I made pommes dauphinoise instead.

The photographic potential of the humble tattie is a bit limited, I think, so apologies for the surfeit of 'beigeness' in today's pictures (that's why I put in the one with the red pan - just to break the monotony), but the dish is so good and it appeals to the glutton in me such that I couldn't not include it here.

The food processor sliced the potatoes far more thinly than I could, then they had a quick wash to remove excess starch, and were layered in a buttered dish with salt and lots of ...

The gratin recipe I turn to most often (one of Prue Leith's) specifies one clove of garlic. Elizabeth David, in the old salad bowl tradition, talks about rubbing the baking dish with the cut side of a clove. Perhaps my taste buds are insensitive, but such mingy quantities won't do for me so I put in lots.

Pour over a generous quantity of double cream (as with the garlic, I'm not of the ascetic 'milk and single cream mixture' school) and then bake. It can have a couple of hours at a low heat, or forty minutes at a higher one if that's all the time you have, and when it's golden brown and bubbling and the potatoes are skewer-done, take it out and eat it for the sake of self-indulgence.

We had it with chicken which of course is similarly coloured, so here's some more non-beige broccoli to finish:

Comments

[tara]

Karen, it looks divine; now you have inspired my next potato dish. I too seem to require more garlic than is generaly called for in recipes. Have a wonderful day!

[Kim (Ragged Roses)]

Looks gorgeous - I agree with you on the cream/garlic issue!

[A Wildlife Gardener]

I'm now slobbering like a big hungry dog after that...haven't made that recipe since the family were home at Christmas, so....off to make it ASAP.

[Francesca]

I'm going to have to try this potato dish. I wonder if your double cream is what is called "half & half" in the US. I am still confused by the whole terminology here in the US. In Italy I would use "panna", but I know it's not the same as half & half.
I hereby call for a standardization of culinary terms and measurements. Of course, tout le monde should adopt the Italian way. :)

[Nan]

My favorite food, bar none! I love the galette, but I leave out the milk. I sauté onions and garlic first, then layer them with the potatoes, and dot with generous amounts of butter. :<) I use a mandolein for the slicing. Beautiful pictures, as always!

[Ruth]

Ooh Potatoes Dauphinoise. When I was young I used to work as a washer-upper in a restaurant in Bath called The Laden Table. There was always PD hanging around and I was very happy if there was some left over at the end of a hard Saturday night to take home wrapped up in a greaseproof paper bundle. My boss, Tony was not so thrilled if any of the pork with truffles, en croute remained but of course we were ecstatic.

[Francesca]

I made the potatoes au gratin and they were quite tasty. :)
I replaced butter with olive oil – probably not a good call considering the dairy content of the dish – but what's cooking without a little experimentation? And I was out of gruyere so I used some Pecorino Romano which turned out to be totally unrelated to the real thing. Alas, the real thing ain't easy to find in LA. But even with the faux pecorino, it was a yummy dish and I found out that double cream is called heavy cream here and oh.my.god, was it heavy. A look at the calorie count and I almost passed out. I think I'll try a slightly lighter version next time.