Dauphinoise Potatoes

adamantine

ive tried to make this twice but no matter how long i seem to keep it in the oven the potatoes are still raw! what am i doing wrong?

im using my mandolin slicer thing so all the slices are the same thickness and using the thin slicing attachment so they shouldnt take long to cook but still it doenst work right!

none of the recipes im looking at call for the pots to be par boiled or blanched before but im thinking of trying that next time.

anyone have any ideas? or idiot proof recipes?

im normally a pretty awesome cook (if i do say so myself :rotfl: love cooking and trying new things) and ive never yet not managed to cook what i want have it not be edible! i will not let this recipe defeat me!!!!!!!!!:mad:

and i hate the waste of it all too. last night it was at gas mark 6/200 degrees for 2.5 hours and was still raw!

rosie383

You're not the only one. This has been driving me mad too! I, too, end up with raw spuds after forever. Thank you so much for asking this.

katieowl_2

Me three....I never even try it anymore. I always end up with raw potatoes. If you try boiling them a bit first they fall apart because of being sliced so thin, and 9 times of ten the cream separates for me as well, because they've been in the oven so long. Maybe you have to use a particular type of (french) potato?

Kate

adamantine

that you so much! so glad im not the only one who is flumoxed by this. i dont feel like such a muppet now lol.

i just want something different from the usual mash, roasted or boiled tatties.

oh and i used maris piper potatoes last night and thats one of the recommended varieties in all the recipes ive seen too.

sunflower76

I boil the potatoes first, whole, in their skins if you don't intend to peel. I give them a few minutes, drain, cool and then slice. Obviously it's important to get the boiling time just right, but this is something I do by eye not to time as it depends on the time.

I then arrange the spud slices in a bowl, use a hot milk, cream, garlic and bay leaf mixture to cover and pop into a pre-heated oven.

I think my basic recipe came from Gordon Ramseys Sunday Lunch book and it's never failed.

daska

OK, gratin dauphinoise, I might be able to help with this. The first question is: are you expecting it to be soft (more similar to mashed potato) or to distinctly separate slices? Traditionally it's made with a more waxy potato (I often use estima but desiree, maris piper are good) BUT, obviously, this makes the layering more obvious so a lot of people use a floury potato instead (e.g. king edward). Then there's the thickness of the slices - a mandolin might be scary but you'll get more regular, and quite possibly thinner, slices which will help it cook evenly. Thirdly, no, you don't parboil the spuds because they're more likely to fall apart - what you MUST do is scald the cream (add the garlic to it then sieve it as you poor it over the potatos) and pre-heat the oven! It should take between an hour 10 to an hour and a half - you can't rush it. Put foil over the top for the first 3/4 hour and then take it off so the top caramelises. Scrummy!

N.B. If you're using a milk/cream mix pour on the (hot) milk first and then pour the cream over the top - the fat helps to stop the top layer of potato from drying out.

Edited to add the recipe my nana taught me
Heat oven - gas mark 3
butter your dish
wash and dry potatos
peel potatos
scald cream with salt, garlic, and bay leaf and leave to infuse
slice potatos and arrange in dish
season with pepper
pour on cream (through sieve)
cover with foil (or lid)
bake for 3/4 hour
remove foil
bake half hour or until golden and cooked through (will depend on type of potato, number of layers, how accurate your oven is etc.)

Pink.

They do seem to take hours and hours and hours to cook through properly. I tried microwaving the whole Dauphinoise before putting it into the oven to quicken the process but it boiled over and just made a mess of the microwave.

Now, when I'm slicing the potatoes, I put them on a (covered) plate, in a circular pattern slightly overlapping and nuke in the microwave. I do a couple of potatoes at a time, so they are cooking while I'm peeling and slicing the next potatoes.

This is obviously not the traditional way to cook Dauphinoise potates, but it works for me and saves me hours of electricity and wasting my time poking the damn thing to see if it's cooked yet.

Pink

Stillstruggling

I cooked this for the first time last weekend and it was perfect i used Jamie Oliver 30min meal recipe maybe if you googled it it would tell you how to do it and yes it did only take 30min to cook
defaintly worth a try

daska

Is that his quick recipe where you chop them in the food processor? Yep, that would cut down the cooking time considerably LOL!

maman

daska wrote: »

Is that his quick recipe where you chop them in the food processor? Yep, that would cut down the cooking time considerably LOL!

I use an easy recipe that my French niece gave me.

Boil potatoes in skins until firm but not soft.
Cool, peel and slice potatoes.
Layer potatoes in dish
Make sauce from low-fat creme fraiche, lazy garlic, chicken stock cube and pepper. Heat through very gently. if it's too thick I add a splash of milk.
Pour sauce over potatoes and top with grated cheese.
It takes about 30 to 45 mins at about 200.

I like to add some sauce at each layer as it helps to percolate down properly.

adamantine

daska wrote: »

OK, gratin dauphinoise, I might be able to help with this. The first question is: are you expecting it to be soft (more similar to mashed potato) or to distinctly separate slices? Traditionally it's made with a more waxy potato (I often use estima but desiree, maris piper are good) BUT, obviously, this makes the layering more obvious so a lot of people use a floury potato instead (e.g. king edward). Then there's the thickness of the slices - a mandolin might be scary but you'll get more regular, and quite possibly thinner, slices which will help it cook evenly. Thirdly, no, you don't parboil the spuds because they're more likely to fall apart - what you MUST do is scald the cream (add the garlic to it then sieve it as you poor it over the potatos) and pre-heat the oven! It should take between an hour 10 to an hour and a half - you can't rush it. Put foil over the top for the first 3/4 hour and then take it off so the top caramelises. Scrummy!

N.B. If you're using a milk/cream mix pour on the (hot) milk first and then pour the cream over the top - the fat helps to stop the top layer of potato from drying out.

Edited to add the recipe my nana taught me
Heat oven - gas mark 3
butter your dish
wash and dry potatos
peel potatos
scald cream with salt, garlic, and bay leaf and leave to infuse
slice potatos and arrange in dish
season with pepper
pour on cream (through sieve)
cover with foil (or lid)
bake for 3/4 hour
remove foil
bake half hour or until golden and cooked through (will depend on type of potato, number of layers, how accurate your oven is etc.)

no im not expecting it to be soft like mash i just wanted them to be cooked and not raw lol. first time i made them i used red rooster pots and it didnt take quite as long as last night. they did eventually cook. last night i tried nuking them in the micro afterwards but still wasnt cooking so i gave up.

i only had 3 layers of slices last night done in the mandolin and they were just overlapping at the edge so each layer was covered and i was putting a layer of onions and garlic inbetween and seasoning each layer too. i did wash and dry the slices too.

what do you mean by scald the cream? just bring it to boil and leave to infuse?

oven always pre-heated too. turn it on start preparing and by the time in done the cavity is the right temp and in the food goes.