dauphinoise potatoes recipe

The picture of raw ingredients is prettier than the final product, but the final product is infinitely more delicious than the raw ingredients.

Ingredients

•  20g butter
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 4 large potatoes, peeled and sliced
• 1 egg, beaten
• 3 cups hot milk (750 ml)
• 160g Gruyere cheese, grated
• pinch nutmeg

Method

Combine butter and garlic and use to grease a casserole dish. Place sliced ptoatoes in dish. Mix egg, milk, and cheese together, and pour over potatoes. Sprinkle with nutmeg. Bake in oven at 180 degrees C for 1 and 1/4 hours or until tender.

simmer down notes:

• I’ve never used Gruyere cheese for this, I just use whatever cheese I have. Last time that was Emmenthal. I’m not sure that Emmenthal was the best choice – the cheese on top seemed a bit chewy and not so easy to cut through. Use your favourite. If I had real cheddar, that’s probably what I’d use. The amount of 160g isn’t really necessary, less will definitely do.
• On the small plate in the picture above are two things, one of which will seriously enhance your dish, the other of which is an entirely optional extra. Fried onions are a fabulous addition. I fried these onions for quite a while – about 20 minutes, I guess, with about half a teaspoon of sugar. The other pile is olive paste – recipe posted on July 1st (photograph of initial stage of olive paste preparation right here). I add some onion and olive paste on top of every layer of potatoes.
• The quantities can be changed here for a smaller or larger dish – as you can see, I used three potatoes. The amount of milk is generous and can be reduced a bit.