Potatoes Dauphinoise from Texture Over Taste
It kinda looks like Mac & Cheese
Trust me, it’s not as intimidating as it might be to pronounce
Time: 1 Hour 30 minutes
Difficulty: 1/5
Ingredient Availability: 5/5
I’ll say something similar to what Josh said in the introduction to this recipe. Despite the fancy name, this is essentially just Potatoes Au Gratin, which arguable sounds just as fancy. Potatoes in a casserole form are rarely bad, so I have fairly high expectations for this recipe. With the simplicity of the ingredients list, this recipe has the chance to be a high scorer.
Key Ingredients and Omissions:
This is a vey simple ingredients list
Since the ingredients list for this recipe is fairly slim, you should probably use everything it calls for to get the full effect. Sure, you could get away without using the thyme and garlic, but you might be missing out later. I will say that you should probably use the best quality cheese that you can afford and get so that it doesn’t get lost with everything else. Nothing here is really special otherwise.
Tools:
Grater
Sharp Knife and/or mandolin
Vegetable Peeler
Cooking Review:
Prep: 10 minutes
The prep for this recipe was just chopping the garlic and grating the cheese.
Boiling Cream Mixture and Preparing Potatoes: 19 minutes
While I waited for the milk and heavy whipping cream to come to a boil, I peeled the potatoes. Once the cream mixture came to a boil, I seasoned it with salt and pepper to taste. This is one of those situations where you really need to taste it to know if you’re happy with where it’s at or not. Then, I reduced the heat and sliced the potatoes on a mandolin.
Be very careful when using a Mandolin
Cooking potatoes and arranging in baking dish: 20 minutes
I added the potatoes and thyme to the simmering cream mixture and let it cook for 9 minutes. I added a little extra salt at the end of this step. The thyme was removed and I folded in the garlic. I used a slotted spoon to transfer the potatoes to a prepared baking dish and covered with most of the cream mixture then the cheese.
Baking & Broiling: 36 minutes
I baked the potatoes for 31 minutes. At that point, the potatoes were soft and done. However, I wanted a little more browning, so I turned the broiler on Lo and let it broil for 4 minutes. You could eat it now, but you should let it cool for at least 5 minutes.
Analysis:
The first thing I noticed was the sweetness that’s present in this dish. It kind of caught me by surprise, but I suppose that whole milk and heavy whipping cream inherently have some sweetness, which would only intensify if cooked down. I also noticed that it wasn’t all that cheesy. Only the very top has some cheese flavor and it’s not all that intense. Despite this, there is still some good flavor here. The cream sauce is well seasoned thanks to me tasting and seasoning accordingly. I also think that I can taste the garlic in it, but I’m not so sure about the thyme. As far as texture goes, the potatoes were cooked perfectly with a soft bite and the sauce was borderline creamy. I think it may have just been that the dish was still a little on the hot side when I ate it, which made the sauce a little more liquid than would be ideal. It also could just be because I added a little too much sauce before baking. I’m giving this recipe a 8/10. I’m impressed by the flavor that’s here despite the cheese not being as prevalent as one might expect. The recipe is pretty easy, inexpensive, and would work great along side a hearty entree and maybe another side. I think if there was a little more cheese flavor and maybe a crispier top, this could have gained another point or two.
