Freaking Bobby Flay.
I'm not the biggest Bobby Flay fan, but recently I've started to warm up to him. Although, I still want to reach through the TV and smack him in the head every time he says "chi - POAT - uh - lay." There are only 3 syllables in chipotle. There's no "uh" in there. And he says it a lot. Has no one ever tried to correct him, or does he just not care? I know he's all about the Southwest cuisine -- he should at least have enough respect to learn to say it properly.
I'll try not to injure myself climbing down off my soapbox.
So . . . yesterday I was working on something on the computer and I had the TV on in the background. Food Network, of course. One of Bobby's shows came on -- I'd seen this one before and I think it's a few years old. He visits his old culinary school, then cooks some basic dishes with 2 of the students. One of the dishes they were making were potatoes dauphinoise.
I'd had these potatoes before (well, not the exact ones, but the restaurant's version), but I'd never made them myself. Story of my life lately.
It was around lunchtime, I hadn't eaten at all yet, and those potatoes were just screaming for me. I did a quick mental inventory to figure out if I even had the ingredients. I did, sort of. I didn't have any gruyere cheese, but I did have manchego and I thought that would be a great substitute in this dish. Before I made my version, I looked up Bobby's online, as well as perusing a few other on google.
The most basic of this dish is just potatoes cooked in cream. Some recipes don't contain cheese, or shallots, or herbs. I just can't go that way. I had some shallots, which are always great with potatoes, so I knew those were going in. And fresh thyme and rosemary are rarely ever bad ideas in a savory casserole. I pretty much always add a pinch of fresh grated nutmeg to any cream dish. Oh, look, I pretty much have a recipe!
Unfortunately, I knew I wouldn't get this completely done before I had to leave for the gym (how's that for irony?), so I put it all together, baked it, turned the oven off and just left it. It was still warm when I got home. And delicious. And I felt slightly less guilty after working out for two hours before eating it. Very slightly.
A couple of notes:
I made this in a 9 x 13 pan, and I only used 4 or 5 medium potatoes, so the end product wasn't very "thick" in depth. It came out fine, but I might try using a smaller dish next time so that the potatoes are higher and the end result is a thicker stack of potatoes.
Alternatively, you could up the ingredient amounts called for in my recipe -- double, maybe? -- and make a thicker version in the big pan. This would work if you have several people to serve . . . otherwise you're going to have a lot of leftovers.
I started out baking this with a sheet of foil just laid over the pan. Because it has to bake for at least an hour, I didn't want the top to burn. I took the foil off about 30 minutes in, and let it go uncovered for about another 40 minutes. I like my cheesy - creamy crust to get pretty dark on top (as you can see in the photo), so these times were great for my preference. If you don't want your top that dark, you can leave the foil on a little longer. It's easier to adjust the end time because there's really not much danger of overcooking this dish.
This dish, being French in origin, is traditionally made with gruyere (if cheese is used at all). As I mentioned, I didn't have gruyere on hand. I did have a hunk of manchego which, in the unaged version, is a great white Spanish sheep's milk cheese with a mildly nutty flavor that melts wonderfully. I was pleased with the outcome!
Now on to the good stuff!
The How:
Potatoes Dauphinoise
2 T. butter
2 shallots
2 C. cream
1 to 1.5 C. milk
4 to 6 cloves roasted garlic, mashed
Salt and pepper to taste
Pinch of fresh grated nutmeg
1.5 t. fresh thyme, chopped
1.5 t. fresh rosemary, chopped
5 medium potatoes, sliced thinly (mandolin is preferred)
1.5 C. grated cheese (gruyere or manchego work very well, but you can use your favorite white melting cheese)
Heat oven to 425 degrees and roast garlic cloves in a little EVOO for about 40 minutes. Mash the garlic in a bowl, using a fork or wire whisk.
Reduce heat to 350 degrees.
Sauté shallots in butter in a medium saucepan. Add cream, 1 cup of milk, roasted garlic, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Bring to a simmer, but don’t boil. Simmer for about 2 to 3 minutes to heat through. Remove from heat and stir in the fresh thyme and rosemary.
Peel the potatoes and slice thinly (about 1/8 inch) using a mandolin. Spray the bottom and sides of a 9 x 13 glass baking dish with non-stick spray. Spread the sliced potatoes evenly in the bottom of the pan.
Pour the cream mixture over the potatoes. The liquid should just cover the potatoes. If there isn’t enough liquid, add a little more milk to the pan until the potatoes are just covered, but not swimming.
Cover evenly with grated cheese. Lay a piece of foil over the pan. Bake for 30 minutes, then remove foil. Bake for another 30 to 40 minutes, until potatoes are tender and cheese is golden brown.
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