Gratin dauphinois

There was a pot of double cream past it's expiry date in the fridge, but still smelt, tasted and looked good. Yes, I am one of those people that ignore dates and uses senses to judge whether food is still edible. I'm even worst with dry food, sometimes cooking with items that have expired 2-3 years ago!! It just shows you how much you are able not to waste when you use your own judgement.

So what to do with that pot of cream?

Suddenly I remembered gratin dauphinois, which I only cooked once, many years ago. Have I ever mentioned I am crazy about potatoes? 

None of my books had a recipe so I turned to the internet.

Wikipedia defines gratin dauphinois as 'a French dish of sliced potatoes baked in milk or cream, using the gratin technique, from the Dauphiné region in South-Eastern France' and 'it is distinguished from ordinary gratin potatoes by the use of raw rather then boiled potatoes'. Raw sounds good, meaning less work and less washing up.

I selected 2 recipes: one from Delia Smith and another from Felicity Cloake. I wasn't completely happy with either so I mixed them up and came up with my own version. Let's just say I almost licked the oven dish...

For the brown crust on top, the gratin, Delia uses butter flecks and Felicity uses grated gruyère cheese. I decided to use absolutely nothing. The dish is rich enough and the creamed potatoes brown well. Gratin dauphinois is all about worshiping potatoes.

Serves: 4 persons as a side dish.

Ingredients:

• 550g potatoes, peeled
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• salt & pepper to taste
• 300ml cream
• 100ml milk
• nutmeg to taste
• butter to butter the oven dish

Method:

1. Slice the potatoes very thinly with a mandolin or a food processor. I used Heston Blumenthal's food processor which lets me adjust the thickness of the slices. I set it to 3mm.
   

   

   
   
   
2. Butter a oven dish / gratin dish with butter.
   
   
   
3. In the dish, arrange a layer of potato slices and sprinkle salt & pepper and crushed garlic. Then another layer of potatoes and seasoning until you have no more potatoes left.
   

   
   
   
4. Mix the cream and milk together with nutmeg. Pour it over the potatoes.
   
   
   
5. Sprinkle a little extra nutmeg on the top.
   
   
   
6. Cover with foil and cook for 1 hour in a 160°C oven.
   
   
   
7. Remove the foil and let the top brown under the grill for 5 min.
   
   
   
8. Serve warm.
   

Gratin dauhinois can be eaten as the main course but it will be quite heavy so I prefer pairing it with something else. Perhaps a lean cut of meat or fish to counteract the richness of the cream.