Dauphinoise without cream - Heretic I hear you scream!

Can you imagine my consternation when my other half announces that due to an upset stomach, he doesn't want anything rich for dinner? What a wanker. I was utterly disgusted. The best people eat through and sacrifice their tummy ache for taste. However, we still had to eat, and my mouth was watering for the beautiful layered potatoes and onions of dauphinoise. Adaptations had to be (grudgingly) made. I have eaten boulangere potatoes once before, but found them unsatisfying, probably due to the lack of heart stopping cream and butter.

I decided to give them a go for the sake of my relationship. After looking at several recipes and getting thoroughly confused, I thought "bugger it", just stick them in and we'll deal with the consequences later.

Ingredients:

• Potatoes (waxy preferred apparently, but I used what was in my vegetable drawer - don't have a clue regarding the type)
• Onions
• Chicken stock - whatever you have
• Milk
• Butter
• Parmesan cheese (any kind of hard cheese would work - I wasn't sacrificing all my calories for his tummy upset)
• White wine

I made this for two, so only used 2 potatoes (both around the size of a baking potato) and three quarters of an onion, but it depends on how deep your dish is because we'll be layering.

Method:

• Slice your onion as thin as you can get it - you can use a mandolin if you like, but I balanced out the time taken to slice the onion versus the time taken to wash the mandolin and added risk of losing a fingertip and decided to go with the knife
• Slice your potatoes - about as thick as a one pound coin. If you don't know how thick that is, visit the UK and take one home with you
• Butter your dish (liberally)
• Start with a layer of onions, then overlap the potatoes in a layer of potatoes
• Season with salt and pepper
• Repeat until you have no potato left, or your dish is full
• Add a splash of milk to your chicken stock (I used about half a pint of chicken stock and enough milk to make a cup of coffee)
• Pour the milk and stock mix over your layers until it is lapping at the underside of your potatoes like a cheap whore in a vegetable porno
• Grate your cheese of choice over the top and cover with foil
• Pop it into the oven. Cooking times will vary according to your oven. My oven is about as reliable as a cheesegrated umbrella in a downpour. I cooked it for 1 hr 30 mins on gas mark 6
• Drink the wine
• Remove the foil and put your oven temperature up as high as it will go - you are looking for the cheese to melt and bubble, and the potatoes on the top layer to start to crisp around the edges. How long will depend on your choice of cheese and potatoes, so keep an eye on it

End Result:

The potatoes should have absorbed most of the liquid, be crisp on the top, lovely and soft underneath, and look like a dauphinoise without the cream.

I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised. My other half, the cause of such a hideous experiment, decided he likes them better than dauphinoise. Which means now I need to make awesome dauphinoise as I can't be giving them up. Still, like an inheritance windfall from an elderly relative, as lovely as they were, it was a bittersweet discovery.