Between feeling under the weather and a little fender bender, this week did not begin well. Fortunately all of that is now behind me and things are looking much better. Among the highlights, I went to BAKED's book signing event and met the duo behind the scrumptious baked goods and awesome cookbooks. Matt and Renato were so sweet and I really enjoyed their demo for sweet & salty brownie. Another reason to smile? French Fridays with Dorie of course!
Since I'm still feeling a little weak, I picked the easiest recipe to attempt (and one which does not require a trip to grocery store to pick up extra ingredients). Potato gratin (Pommes Dauphinois) is not a recipe I would pick on my own. Tender thin slices of potato drowned in garlic-infused cream sound just a tad too rich for me taste. It seems like a dish reserved for very special occasions. A long time ago, I read an essay by Jeffrey Steingarten from his book It Must've Been Something I Ate on his quest for the best version of this classic. His attention to detail to reach his ideal made a strong impression on this budding home cook. I have not yet gone on my own quest for any particular dish though I'm sure one day I will.
The last time I attempted pommes dauphinois was the one by Chocolate & Zucchini. It sure tasted good but I made the mistake of using some heirloom varieties of potato...half blue flesh and half pink flesh. After baking, it looked like the gratin took a beating and was all bruised blue and purple. Ooops! This time I used all German Butterball potatoes, a medium starch variety all-purpose potato with golden flesh. Taking a cue from Clotilde, I first rubbed the baking dish with a smashed clove of garlic before generously buttering the 1 pint baking dish. I made approximately 1/3 of the recipe so the yield is a little more manageable in my small household. I sprinkled thyme leaves between every layer of potatoes and seasoned with a judicious grating of nutmeg in addition to salt and pepper. I chose Swiss gruyere to top the gratin as I have some left over from making hachis parmentier.
I assembled the dish on Thursday night and baked it on Friday morning. Not only was it convenient, my reasoning was that the potatoes would have time to soak up the garlic-infused cream overnight in the fridge. What I fail to remember was that salt draws out moisture from the potatoes so the dish had a tiny bit of extra water floating over the cream when I baked it in the morning. Luckily, it did not affect the final result at all since the long baking time dried out the excess moisture easily. However, I would not recommend assembling this dish too much ahead of time. Similar to the apple cake from last week, the kitchen smelled absolutely wonderful while the gratin was baking. For my small gratin, the total baking time took the full 45 minutes as suggested in the recipe.
If I am to make this dish again, I will definitely go for a higher starch potato such as a russet like Dorie recommended. The German Butterball that I used has great flavour but I was hoping the potato and cream would almost melt together from the long baking. Although my dish is thoroughly cooked, the potatoes remain distinctive slices and the cream did not thicken as much as I would like. The overall flavour of garlic, thyme, and nutmeg really enhance the dish though. This is a very delicious rendition of potato gratin but I think my search for the ultimate version continues.
Check out what other members made this week!
