Potato Dauphinoise – elevated
I used to think classic Potato Dauphinoise was the ultimate potato bake But then we plonked brie on it, baked it, and it catapulted into another stratosphere! Because brie trumps ordinary cheese every day of the week, and twice on special occasions. Think: melt-in-your-mouth layers of thinly sliced potato bubbling away in a butter-cream sauce perfumed with just the right amount of garlic and thyme. Already great. But then we place brie on top, cut face down, and pop it back in the oven until it melts and oozes all over the surface and seeps down the sides. Incredible. And then – you cut into the brie skins to discover pockets of gooey brie underneath. Your eyes widen, your face splits into a huge grin, you do a little happy dance and you scoop up way, way more than your fair share. You know I’m describing myself here. Though I’d wager this describes you too, when you make this!!
Ingredients in Brie Dauphinoise Potatoes
This recipe is actually a simplified version of tartiflette which is a potato bake from the French Alps. It’s baked with Reblochon cheese on top, one of those pungent washed rind cheeses which I haven’t seen here in Australia. So we’re going with good ole’ brie in our version! Here’s what you need:
1. Mini bries
This recipe calls for 3 x small brie that are 8 cm/3.2″ wide weighing 125g / 4oz each. I use the Woolworths brand one which are $2.80 each. Don’t bother with artisan brie, it’s wasted for this dish! Small bries work well because once split in half, 3 small ones almost fully cover the surface of a 1.5 litre / 1.5 quart (6 cup) baking dish in which the potato dauphinoise is baked. The idea behind using small ones is that the skin of the cheese sort of contains some of the cheese inside even once fully melted, so you get an impressive ooze when you cut into it. However, if you can’t find the small ones, just use two larger ones. I’d keep them whole so the skin holds some of the cheese underneath because honestly, that is one of the great things about this dish. 🥰 Brie vs camembert – Camembert will work just as well, it’s just that brie is richer (~65% fat v 45%).
2. The potato bake part
These are the same ingredients as classic Dauphinoise Potatoes excluding shredded cheese. Because even the self confessed Cheese Queen admits that’d be too much cheese!
Potatoes – We want to use starchy potatoes for potato bakes like this so they break down and become soft and fluffy, rather than slippery like waxy potatoes do. It’s so disappointing when you cut through the molten cheesy topping only to find the potato slices are sliding all over the place (from the vivid description, you can guess I’ve made that mistake!).Australia – Sebago (those dirt brushed potatoes) are ideal. US – Russet, and UK – King Edward or Maris Piper are perfect. Or any other starchy potatoes – Dutch creams, King Edwards or red delight. Cream – Thickened or heavy cream work best, otherwise any full fat cream. This is the sauce in Dauphinoise that makes the potatoes so deliciously creamy. Garlic and butter – Mixed into the cream for deliciously buttery garlicky flavour in the creamy sauce. Fresh thyme – Scattered on each layer of potatoes, fresh thyme adds the most beautiful hint of herby flavour. Dried thyme really isn’t the same. But if you really can’t get fresh, just use dried (half the quantity as dried is more intense than fresh). Salt and pepper – For scattering on the layers as you assemble.
How to make Brie Dauphinoise Potatoes
The part that is a bit finicky is slicing the potatoes thinly though if you’ve got a mandolin you’ll make short work of it. Other than that, this is breeze to make! Australia – Sebago (those dirt brushed potatoes) are ideal. US – Russet, and UK – King Edward or Maris Piper are perfect. Or any other starchy potatoes – Dutch creams, King Edwards or red delight.
I know that sounds like a long time, and yours might be faster especially if you use a larger baking dish so the potatoes are not stacked as deep as mine. But for me, it consistently takes 80 minutes! The potatoes won’t get much softer during the 30 minute brie melting time, they just enjoy bubbling away in the melty brie.
It’s a side….it’s a meal!
You know I’m pitching this to you as a side dish. There are rumblings in the RecipeTin family WhatsApp thread that this needs to make an appearance on Christmas Day alongside the Seafood Platter which would go so well – think, light, cold seafood with warm oozy potato dauphinoise. YES!!! But I exaggerate not when I say I’ve been inhaling bowls of this as a meal with a leafy side salad. It’s pictured above with an on-point holiday appropriate Pomegranate Salad (it’s got candied walnuts!). And not 5 minutes ago, I finished making the recipe video and it was dinner with this Rocket Salad on the side.
Making ahead – and leftovers
And lastly, just letting you know this is a make-ahead beauty! Assemble and bake for the covered part. Refrigerate, then finish baking it on the day with the brie on top. In the event you are fortunate enough to have leftovers, I strongly suggest hiding the dish at the back of the fridge so you can enjoy leftovers without sharing. Or do as I suggested to a friend – cover with foil and label as RAW CHICKEN (to deter teenage boys). It works. 😈 – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
More potato sides I love
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