royal potatoes

Royal potatoes aka gratin dauphinois aka potatoes dauphinois aka potatoes au gratin aka a creamy potato bake … Lots of names for one of the most delicious side dishes ever known!

Le Dauphin used to be the title of the heir to the French throne for centuries … while dauphinois is related to the French region Dauphiné where this side dish originates. Dauphin is French for dolphin – a dolphin is part of the coat of arms of the heir to the French throne: in the 12th century the count of Albon was nicknamed Le Dauphin (which was passed on to his successors) & his county was renamed Dauphiné. 200 years later the county became part of France & was given to the heir of the French throne … (something alike the Prince of Wales business). The side dish was mentioned on July 12th, 1788 for the 1st time … (Thank you Wikipedia!)

I used this background to label it Royal Potatoes!

From now on we’ll deal w/ the present & concentrate on preparing the side dish!
(Btw: I was inspired to do it this way by Rachel Khoo’s cookbook from her little Paris kitchen.)

It’s quite simple – only a transformation:

• from raw potatoes
• cooked in milk & cream
• baked in the oven
• to creamy potatoes …

What do we need?

Not much – it’s only:

• potatoes
• milk
• cream
• garlic
• nutmeg
• Gruyère (if you like!)
• … & salt & pepper & some butter (of course!).

We peel the potatoes & cut them in slices of about 2-3 mm. I used waxy potatoes: therefore the potato slices will remain firm, however, don’t do the slices too thick!

We’ll use small casserole bowls for the side dish: therefore cut in half the potatoes if too large!

Mix the milk & the cream & add everything (i. e. salt & pepper & freshly grated nutmeg). I prefer just a hint of nutmeg, but feel free to add some more if you like!

Everything marches in a pot to be boiled – means: bring it to a boil & let it simmer afterwards for about 10 min. (Don’t forget to preheat the oven … (180 degrees C fan).)

In the meantime we grease the casserole bowls w/ butter & add some garlic flavour. Cut in half the clove of garlic & rub the juicy edge around the buttered bowls.

Finally our potato-milk-mix is ready!

Don’t panic: I’ve tried it several times & never – NEVER – I had to deal w/ burnt milk on the bottom of the pot! (Means: no scraping, no rubbing, no soaking for endless hours, no special use of dishwasher tabs… only some residues which may be cleaned w/ a kitchen sponge!)

Next step:
Don’t hesitate to fill the casserole bowls w/ the hot potato-milk-mix. If you like some Gruyère for enhancing the flavour add it now: mix it in the potato mess & sprinkle on top.

Attention:
Don’t fill the bowls to the rim: leave at least 1 cm because the mess will start to bubble in the oven!

(I did 3 bowls w/o Gruyère & 3 Bowls w/ Gruyère!)

… & all bowls march in the preheated oven for about 30 min!

You can be sure that the potatoes are well done, but still firm. The milk-cream-mix has thickened … The Gruyère melted into the milk-cream-mix & covers the top layer …

W/o Gruyère it’s a softer flavour – w/ Gruyère there are little sharp edges: choose whatever you like more!

It’s possible to do it w/o pre-boiling… then you’ll need more time in the oven!

You may prepare the casserole bowls w/ the precooked potato-milk-mix some hours before (or even during the previous day), store them in the fridge & put them in the preheated oven just about 30 mins before dinner’s main course.

You may also use a big casserole instead of small casserole bowls …

Concerning the quantities: you’ll need to adapt the basic milk-cream-mix to the potatoes (the more potatoes, the more milk-cream-mix!).

I reduced the original amount of fat (double cream of about 40% by using cream of 32%) in the side dish … somewhat … it doesn’t harm the softness, but it’s lighter!
However, be careful: I did some experimental work & found that it won’t end well if you use any low-fat cream (about 15%) or low-fat crème fraîche (about 15%) or sour cream (neither 20% nor 10%) or … it’ll coagulate & ruin the potatoes!

Enjoy!