Gratin Dauphinois

From the classic Chinese dish to the classic French dish. Gratin Dauphinois or potato gratin. Everybody here have their own way of doing it & like all my French recipes, this one is again from X's mum.

I've been to restaurants where they served individual portions in small gratin dishes. One day when I'm feeling rich, I might go get myself some but in the meantime, for the family, it's done in a big pot & just dished out from there.

Following in the style of Pioneer Woman, I'll attempt a step by step tutorial. What ? You've not heard of the Pioneer Woman ? Well head on over & check out her blog - she lays out her cooking process each step of the way peppered with her own personal blend of humour & colourful commentary. I'm a huge fan of hers.

So anyway, here's what you'll need
3-4 potatoes, sliced as thinly as you possibly can. 3 cloves of garlic, diced. Butter, nutmeg, salt, pepper, milk, cream & grated cheese.
I had to take the group photo a few times cos I kept forgetting items. This PW style post was not off to a good start.

Next assemble the dish. This is The Girl's favorite thing to do. For as long as I can remember, every time I do this, she would insist on helping me lay out the photos. But today my little helper is in school so I'm afraid I'll have to rough it out myself.

Place a layer of potatoes in the dish, next add a few slices of butter, handful of grated cheese, sprinkle some garlic, dash of salt, pepper & nutmeg. Then pour about 3 Tbsp of cream over. Place another layer of potatoes & repeat the process - as many layers as necessary to use up all the potatoes. In the end, heat up a bowl (or more) of milk in the microwave & pour over until it just about covers the potatoes.

Cook in the oven at 190C for an hour or until the top turns golden brown.

I served it here as a side for another French classic , steak hache - the quintessential food of all French children. Ask any French person & they will tell you they grew up eating steak hache which is basically ground beef patty.

But of course, you can serve this with any roast meat, steak, sausages etc.