I must confess I am one of those annoying people that watches shows like Come Dine With Me and Masterchef. Okay, there isn’t really any surprise there I know 🙂 One thing that pops up on the menus of these kinds of shows often is scalloped potatoes but usually it’s been renamed dauphinoise potatoes to sound “fancy” but here’s the thing guys. Dauphinoise potatoes are a specific kind of potato bake. You can call them scalloped potatoes but you can’t call scalloped potatoes dauphinoise potatoes. Urgh it drives me crazy every time I see it *sighs*
Dauphinoise potatoes are traditionally made with cream, garlic and nutmeg. Sure, some chefs have deviated from the traditional recipe, but you shouldn’t be calling them dauphinoise potatoes if you do. So you can try them, I have included a traditional recipe for dauphinoise potatoes. You can add some cheese to the top making it gratin dauphinoise if you like.
Dauphinoise potatoes should be rich, creamy and comforting. It is definitely not an everyday food.
Right, back to the topic at hand. The scalloped potatoes recipe can be found on page 168. I read through the recipe before beginning (as you should always do) and the one thing I noticed was that the recipe calls for some chopped bacon which is great. Who doesn’t love bacon? Here’s the thing: nowhere in the method does it actually tell you how to use the bacon.
It literally says nothing. I was tempted to leave the bacon out when making it since the whole point of this exercise is to follow the recipes to the letter but I decided not to be so pedantic and chose to add the bacon with the layers of onion and cheese. I’m really not kidding. If you follow the recipe exactly you will be left with great looking scalloped potatoes with a side serving of raw chopped bacon.
The method also says to cook the potatoes for 30 minutes and then a further 10 to 15 minutes, but I have to say I have never in my life been able to cook a scalloped potato recipe in anywhere near that amount of time without precooking them a little in the microwave first. This recipe took closer to an hour and fifteen minutes to cook. It does depend on the variety of potato you use but if you can get it to cook in 40-45 minutes you are a better man than I.
The flavour of the cooked scallop potatoes was nice and subtle. It would make a great side dish to have with chicken and salad or steak and steamed vegetables. This recipe isn’t the best recipe for scalloped potatoes I have ever tried but it is nowhere near the worst so I would say it’s definitely worth a go but remember to give yourself some extra cooking time.
You know its cooked when a knife slides easily through all of the layers and the top is golden brown.
Until next time. Happy cooking! 🙂