Potatoes au Gratin

 Potatoes au Gratin (Dauphinoise)

https://www.recipetineats.com/potatoes-au-gratin/#wprm-recipe-container-25838 

Recipe video above. The ultimate potato bake, created by the French!!! Potato + cream + cheese with a hint of garlic and thyme = pure heaven. Based on Julia Child's Potato Dauphinoise recipe.

This is THE perfect make ahead potato dish, the most luxurious of all potato casseroles, the better version of Scalloped Potatoes!

Authenticity note: traditional Dauphinoise in France does not contain cheese. But I could never imagine making it without..... It makes it better. You know it does!

Prep Time 15 minutes Cook Time 1 hour 30 mins Total time 1 hour and 45 minutes 

 Servings: 8 - 10 people Calories: 167cal Author: Nagi

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups cream , full fat (Note 1)
• 2 garlic cloves , minced
• 30g / 2 tbsp unsalted butter , melted
• 1.25 kg / 2.5 lb starchy potatoes , Russet, Sebago, Maris Piper (Note 2)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 2 1/2 cups gruyere cheese (colby, cheddar, havarti or tasty), freshly grated yourself (Note 3)
• 2 tsp thyme leaves , fresh (optional - but highly recommended)

Instructions

• Cream Mixture: Place butter, cream and garlic in a jug. Mix until combined.
  
• Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F (both fan and standard ovens).
  
• Slice potatoes: Peel the potatoes and slice them 1/8"/3 mm thick. Or use a slicer!
  
• Layer 1: Spread 1/3 of the potatoes in a baking dish (Note 3), then pour over 1/3 of the Cream Mixture, scatter with 1/3 of the salt, pepper and thyme. Sprinkle with 3/4 cups cheese.
  
• Layers 2 & 3: Repeat for the 2nd and third layer, but do not finish with cheese on the top layer (will add later).
  
• Cover & bake: Cover with lid or foil, and bake for 1 hour 15 minutes or until the potatoes in the middle are soft (use knife to test), it might take 1 1/2 hours. (Note 5)
  
• Top with cheese, bake again: Remove foil, top with cheese. Bake for a further 10 to 15 minutes until golden and bubbly. Stand 5 minutes before serving.
  

Notes

1. Cream - any full fat cream works great here. Heavy / thickened or even a full fat pouring cream are all great.

For a lighter version, use light fat, or half and half (or use 1/2 cream, half milk). But it won't have the same rich mouthfeel. Don't try this with just milk.

2. Potatoes - Australia: Use Sebago ("dirt" potatoes, sold everywhere), US: Russet, UK: King Edward or Maris Piper

OR any other starchy potatoes. Dutch creams, King Edwards or red delight. Great all rounders like golden delight, coliban and red rascal are also great.

3. Cheese - Gruyere is the best as it provides flavour and browns beautifully on top. Julia Childs uses gruyere. It's quite expensive so for everyday purposes, use your favourite melting cheese: colby, cheddar, havarti, tasty cheese, Monterey Jack or any other flavoured melting cheese.

Mozzarella will also work but I'd probably use a combination of 2 cups (200g) mozzarella plus 1 cup (100g) finely grated parmesan which will add flavour (because mozzarella doesn't have much flavour).

Always best to grate your own as it melts better - store bought pre shredded has anti caking agent which prevents cheese melting as well as it should.

4. Baking Dish Size - I use a 1.5L / 1.5 Qt / 6 cup, 18 x 26 cm x 5 cm / 7 x 11 x 2" oval shape, or thereabouts but it's full to the brim so a slightly larger one would be more ideal. A 26 cm / 11" skillet also works great. A 20cm/8" square pan is too small. Larger dish is fine - just means the potatoes au gratin isn't as deep

5. Baking time - Will differ depending on shape of dish, depth of potatoes, heat retention of baking dish, reliability of oven etc, 1 hour 20 minutes covered is consistently the time for me.

6. Make ahead: Near perfect for make ahead! The best way (in my experience) is hold back about 1/2 cup of the cream mixture. Bake covered in foil, then cool with foil on. Pour over reserved cream, top with cheese, cover with cling wrap. Refrigerate. Remove from fridge 1 hour before, reheat covered in foil in a 180C/350F oven for 20 - 30 min or until hot, then remove foil and bake until cheese is golden. To speed things up you can microwave it then pop it in the oven (this is dense so takes quite a while to reheat in the oven, depends on depth of baking dish you use).

Leftovers will keep for 3 to 4 days in the fridge.

7. Source: Adapted from Julia Child's Dauphinoise Potatoes recipe. Hers is slightly more involved, calling for scattering finely diced butter on each layers (which I simplified by melting), only rubs garlic on baking dish (I use 2 whole cloves), and she uses less cheese. Mine gradually evolved over time from her original recipe to what mine is today!

Nutrition assumes 10 servings.

Nutrition

Serving: 110g | Calories: 167cal | Carbohydrates: 14.2g | Protein: 5.7g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 31mg | Sodium: 281mg | Potassium: 364mg | Fiber: 2.1g | Sugar: 1.6g | Vitamin A: 300IU | Vitamin C: 23.1mg | Calcium: 160mg | Iron: 0.7mg

Apple Tart

 

The Easiest French Apple Tart

• Author: Alexandra Stafford
 
• Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes
 
• Yield: 1 tart

Dough recipe: This is the only pie dough, tart dough, galette dough, pastry I use. It’s foolproof. Here are five recipes I use it in.

Dough can be made up to 3 days in advance and stored in the fridge or made weeks in advance and stored in the freezer. I typically make a double batch and freeze one round for a future use, but I’ve written the recipe below to yield one pastry round.

The filling for this French apple tart recipe is inspired by Sarah Copeland’s Every Day is Saturday, in which there is a lovely gluten-free variation.

Save your pie dough scraps and make cinnamon snails.

Ingredients

For the tart dough:

• 1 1/4 cups (160g) all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon (14 g) sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon table or kosher salt
• 8 tablespoons (114 g) cold, cubed butter, salted or unsalted
• 1/4 C. + 1 T. (71 g) ice water

For the apple tart:

• 3 to 4 apples, I typically use Honey Crisp; use what you like
• 1/4 cup (57 g) butter, salted or unsalted
• 1/4 cup (61 g) sugar

For serving:

• 1 cup heavy cream
• confectioner’s sugar to taste
• flaky sea salt, such as maldon, if you have it, kosher or other salt if you don’t

Instructions

1. Make the pastry: In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the flour, sugar and salt together. Add the cold, cubed butter to the food processor. Pulse at 1-second intervals until butter is the size of peas—should be about 10 quick pulses. Add the ice water and pulse again about 10 times until the mixture is crumbly but holds together when pinched. Lay a clean tea towel on a work surface. Dump the crumbly dough mixture into the center of it.  Grab the four corners of the towel together and twist to create a beggar’s purse, pressing the dough into a round.
2. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the dough into a 12- or 13-inch round. Use as much flour as needed to prevent the dough from sticking, and every few rolls, flip the dough over. Transfer dough to a tart pan with a removable bottom. Fit the dough into the pan, trimming the edges. (Save the scraps; see notes above.) Transfer to freezer for 30 minutes.
3. Preheat the oven to 425ºF and place a rack in the center of the oven.
4. Prepare the apples. Cut the “cheeks” of the apples off the core into four pieces — each piece will have one large flat side. Lay each piece on its flat side and slice thinly, keeping the slices together as you go. Arrange the slices around the tart in any pattern you desire, fanning the apples as you go. You may need to cut some of the apple fans to fit.
5. Sprinkle evenly with the 1/4 cup sugar and 1/4 cup cubed butter. Transfer to a rimmed sheet pan. (I like to line with parchment paper for easy cleanup.) Transfer to the oven for 35 to 40 minutes, checking after 15 minutes: if it is browning too quickly, lower the temperature to 400ºF. I find 425ºF works perfectly, and I actually will turn the oven to convection bake during the last 2 to 3 minutes to get some more caramelization on the apples. This is unnecessary — the uncaramelized apple slices taste delicious, too — but I find it visually appealing and tasty.
6. Make the whipped cream. Place the heavy cream in the bowl of a stand mixer and whip until soft peaks begin to form. (You can do this by hand, too, with a bowl and whisk.) Add confectioner’s sugar — start with 1/4 cup and add more to taste. Add a big pinch of sea salt and beat to combine and until the peaks begin getting firmer. Taste — the mixture should be slightly sweet and the salt should be noticeable, though the whipped cream should not taste salty.
7. Serve the tart warm or at room temperature with dollops of the whipped cream.

Find it online: https://alexandracooks.com/2019/09/13/french-apple-tart-revisited/

Mushroom Risotto

 https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/85389/gourmet-mushroom-risotto/