I love a spud! Roasted, mashed, jacket style, in a salad....pretty much any old way! This recipe is a potato bake or scalloped potatoes or gratin style. You could do it with cream, milk and cheese but, with many people going down the "dairy free" or "lactose intolerant" path these days this is another option to give you the feeling of potato decadence without the cream. It uses stock and a little Dijon mustard for creaminess. The French would call it Boulangere Potatoes I think. You can, if you like, add a little parmesan cheese on the top but that it optional. This recipe uses Hot Air+Steaming (or Combination Steam) to make it a quicker cook, using the double whammy of the Steam to cook the potatoes through while the Hot Air helps to brown and crisp the top. We also have the power to turn off the Steam part way through the cooking to help reduce and excess liquid/stock if you need to. Sometimes this will depend on the potatoes. I like to always use a more "floury" or white flesh variety for this recipe so that they soak up the stock more readily. If you use a potato that is too waxy for any kind of gratin you will find the potato "repels" the liquid and you will end up with a soupy result which is not what I'm going for.

Ingredients:

1.5 kg floury variety potatoes (peeled and thinly sliced)
2 brown onions (peeled and cut in half then into thin semi circle slices)
1 tsp olive oil
4 sprigs fresh thyme (leaves picked)
zest of 1 lemon
sea salt flakes
pinch white pepper
400ml vegetable stock
1 tsp Dijon mustard
60g butter
½ cup grated parmesan (optional)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 190 degrees C on Hot Air+Steaming.*

2. Rub the base of a shallow oven proof dish with butter then add the olive oil. Move around to coat.

3. Create a layer of potato slices, overlapping them slightly, to cover the base of the dish.

4. Sprinkle over some of the onion slices, thyme leaves, lemon zest and season with some salt and pepper.

5. Repeat the layering process until all potatoes & onion have been using ensuring you finish with a layer of potatoes on top and remembering to season each layer along the way.

6. Whisk together the mustard and stock until smooth then pour over the potatoes.

7. Dot the top with pieces of the butter and then sprinkle over the parmesan if using.

8. Bake on Level 2 for around 40 minutes or until potatoes are nice and tender and the top is golden brown and a little crispy. If you find there is still quite a bit of stock or liquid you can press the Manual function button to Turn the Steam off and cook for a further 10 minutes or so. Remove and allow to stand for 15 minutes before serving.

Enjoy this one. It makes a great side to some bbq'd meat or fish along with a nice green salad.

Happy CombiSteaming!

Yours in the kitchen,

The CSQ. x