A variety of potato dishes have long won love and popularity among housewives around the world. After all, such treats always turn out to be very satisfying, tasty and unusual. Almost every nation has its own, special recipe for the preparation of this root crop. So, potato "Dauphine" is considered a very popular dish of French national cuisine.
This sumptuous treat has many cooking options that are very common in many countries. Such an unusual name the potato "Dauphine" received from its place of origin - one of the eponymous historical regions of France. The dish itself is a potato baked with sauce under a ruddy cheese "hat". Refined taste accents are given to this delicacy by spicy nutmeg, and it is piquant due to garlic notes. In addition, the “Dauphine” potatoes in the oven always turn out to be unusually juicy by adding a special dressing.
Dish description
In France, this famous treat is often also called "Gratin". The most widespread delicate and nutritious “Dauphiné” potato has received in America. Usually it is prepared on the basis of raw, thinly sliced tubers, which are boiled in cream or milk. Then the potatoes are baked with cheese until crispy golden crust. Taking into account the cooking method, even similar recipes for dishes can turn out to be completely different, but there will always be one thing to combine them - invariably pleasant taste and memorable aroma.
The consistency and taste of the goodies can easily change, depending on your preferences. And you can supplement the Dauphine potato recipe with a variety of ingredients: for example, asparagus, celery, anchovies, onions or bell peppers. Thanks to the gratinization regularly used in French cooking, the dish gets a pleasant rosy hue, a real juiciness and an unusual taste.
By the way, it’s quite possible to cook this gourmet dish in a slow cooker. To do this, you just need to put the components of the treat in the bowl and process them for about an hour and a half, using the baking mode.
Essential Products
As already mentioned, the Dauphine potato is baked until golden brown. All sorts of spices, garlic and cheese in combination with a gentle creamy dressing give an unusual piquancy to this delicacy. You can safely take advantage of the recipe from the photo of Dauphine potatoes not only for cooking everyday dinner, but also for serving on the festive table. Moreover, this dish is made quite simply, despite such an intricate name.
So, to prepare the famous French treats you will need:
- 10 medium potatoes;
- 150 g of hard cheese;
- a few cloves of garlic;
- a glass of cream;
- 70 g butter;
- a pinch of nutmeg;
- as much thyme;
- salt, pepper and other spices to your taste.
This amount of ingredients is designed to prepare about four servings of delicious Potato Dauphine. And the process itself will take about an hour of your free time.
By the way, for preparing a classic dish, it is best to stock up with old potatoes, which contain much more starch, compared to young root crops. And if you choose tubers specifically for this dish, try to give preference to elongated vegetables - they are much more convenient to cut into thin rings. Among the common varieties of potatoes, pink varieties are considered the most suitable for baking.
Cooking process
First of all, you should start preparing the main ingredient of the dish - potatoes. Many recipes involve the use of raw tubers, which are brought to readiness directly in the process of baking in cream. More experienced chefs act differently - they pre-boil potatoes in milk or broth until half-ready.
If this is your first time preparing a French grained delicacy, be sure to prepare the root crops. To do this, bake or boil the potatoes in their uniforms until half ready. Then cut it into rings, 5-6 millimeters thick. Keep in mind that too thin slices during baking, most likely, will simply turn into porridge, and thick slices, on the contrary, will not bake or absorb a sufficient amount of sauce.
Salt chopped potatoes, pepper, sprinkle with thyme and nutmeg. Stir it well with your hands so that each piece is saturated with a wonderful aroma and taste of spices. Pass the garlic through a press or grate on the finest grater and also add to the potatoes. During the next stirring, try not to damage the slices.
Roasting
Grease a baking dish or baking sheet with a piece of butter. Arrange the potato slices vertically so that there is some free space between them. Cut the remaining butter and place on top. Then fill the potatoes with cream, evenly distributing them over all slices. Grind cheese with a fine grater and sprinkle with it the prepared dish.
Put the mold in the oven for an hour at a temperature of 180 degrees. In general, you should focus on the color of the crust - as soon as the top of the dish gets a golden hue, it can be taken out of the oven. It is rosy cheese that is a kind of indicator of the readiness of the Dauphine potato. Serving a treat is best right in the dish in which it was baked. You can decorate gratinated potatoes with thyme and a few sprigs of greenery.
Second way
If you have very little free time and a festive event is planned the day before, serve your guests the delicious Dauphine potatoes. How to save cooking time? Very simple - you need to bake raw potatoes in cream. To prepare a delicate treat you will need:
- 1 kg of potatoes;
- half a glass of milk and cream;
- egg;
- 200 g of hard cheese or mozzarella;
- 0.5 teaspoon of provence herbs;
- a pinch of nutmeg;
- salt and pepper to taste.
Cooking
Peel the potatoes and cut them into thin rings. Beat the egg in a deep container and add the liquid ingredients - cream and milk. Grind the cheese on a fine grater and add a third of it to the egg mixture. Add salt, pepper, Provencal herbs and nutmeg to the potatoes. Mix thoroughly by hand so that each wedge is marinated.
Lubricate the baking dish with butter and transfer the prepared potatoes to it. Top with slices of creamy mass. Place the treat in the oven for 40-50 minutes at a temperature of 200 degrees. After the potatoes are browned, sprinkle it with cheese chips and put them back for another 10 minutes, so that the cheese melts and becomes crispy.