Dauphinoise Potatoes

Chefs! You just have to speak sharply to them. I've lost count of the number of times I've eaten a dish in a restaurant, recreated it at home, and discovered that my version wasn't as good as theirs! Whose fault was that? The answer is obvious, hence the need for sharp talk.

Folk will tell you, never ask a chef for a recipe, they'll miss out the essential ingredient. I have to say that that's not my experience. In my early cooking days, the great Bill Kerr was incredibly generous with his time and encouragement. It took me about three attempts to make a successful copy of his salmon tartare. It was one of the first recipes in A Bunch of Fives, my only cook book to date. I'm relieved to see that I did give him the credit.

But today's reference is to Craig Wood of The Wee Restaurant fame. (It's in North Queensferry, just underneath the Forth Bridge - the 1890 one. If you haven't been, do go.) And I have to point out that there was no need for severity. As you'll see from the title, it's a very common dish. It used to be known in our house as slittery tatties, probably because I didn't cook them for long enough. Doesn't get much simpler - potatoes cooked with cream and/or milk. I've tried it everywhere. I've cooked them from raw; I've poached them first; I've rubbed the dish with garlic; I've put a clove or two in the poaching liquid; I've tried the lot. Mine were very nice. But.

The but was sampling Craig's version. Sublime doesn't come close. The question was therefore obvious. Why aren't mine as good as yours? Two main answers. Craig doesn't par cook the tatties first, and, as you'll see, he uses a lot more garlic than I used to. I have seen a book which says you need 45 minutes' cooking time. This is a family column, so I won't give you my honest reaction. An hour and a half is the minimum, and they'll almost certainly need longer. The glorious thing is that it's hard to overcook dauphinoise. If they are getting too brown on top, cover the dish with foil, but they are rather nice (and more elegant) if they are sufficiently cooked to be able to serve in squares.

I should stress that the recipe is mine not Craig's, but it was he who gave me the tip about the garlic and oil paste. A final word about the spuds. Slice them as thinly as you can. A mandoline is great. Mine has disappeared. If you were the one who stole it, can you please return it. In its absence, I was reminded that the Magimix has a gizmo which does a brilliant job and leaves you with all your fingers intact.

I can't give you exact quantities. It depends on the size of your dish. Always things to be done with spare potatoes if you have prepared too many. Use a deep oven proof dish so you can fit in three or four layers.

Ingredients

About half a dozen medium to large potatoes (I used Maris Piper); 6 cloves of garlic; about 6 tbsp good olive oil (you may need more); large carton double cream or Elmlea; about 100ml milk; salt and black pepper; a few dots of butter.

************************************************

Peel and very thinly slice the potatoes. Ideally, use a mandoline or food processor with a slicing attachment. Crush the garlic. Chefs have the knack of making it into a paste, which I can never quite manage. Put the garlic in a small bowl and mix with some of the oil. In an ideal world you have a paste: in my world you have oil on top of crushed garlic. Leave to infuse for 15 minutes or so.

Preheat your oven to 180˚C/Mark 4. Place a layer of potato in the bottom of a dish, slightly overlapping. Brush with some garlic oil and season generously with salt and pepper. I can't stress enough the word generously. This dish needs more than you might think. Repeat until you've used all the potato or your bowl is almost full. Mix the cream with about 100ml of full fat milk. Warm gently in a small pan. Pour the mixture over the potatoes, making sure the whole area is covered. Top with some dots of butter.

Bake until the potatoes are soft. Check after 90 minutes. You want the surface to be golden brown. It it's getting too dark, cover with foil,