I’m absolutely knackered. Put it down to “Frühjahrsmüdigkeit” (spring tiredness) or the week at school leading up to the two-week break at Easter, but I am constantly yawning. Of course, my students aren’t. They are enjoying the beginning of spring enormously. It’s like a hormonal uprising, all they seem to do is preen themselves and yearn for the breaks when they can congregate outside the school and admire everyone’s tattoos. Ah, youth…
So, it’s my turn to cook dinner tonight and I’ve chosen something really easy. You can veganese the recipe by leaving out the cheese and using soya or oat cream and dairy-free milk. This is a very basic recipe from http://www.chefkoch.de and you can jazz up the potatoes as you wish. I am too tired to be creative tonight. I’m serving this with a simple salad and steamed broccoli from the Thermomix.
Ingredients to serve four:
1000-1200g potatoes (floury are best), peeled and rinsed
1/4 litre milk
1/4 litre cream
2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
salt and pepper (don’t skimp)
rosemary (fresh if you have, dried if you don’t)
6 tbsp grated cheese (e.g. Parmesan, I used Austrian “Bergkäse”)
Butter or dairy-free alternative for dotting over the gratin (I used a few sprinkles of rosemary infused olive oil)
How to make it:
1. Use the slicing disc on your food processor (or a steady hand and a very sharp knife) to cut the potatoes into thin slices.
2. Mix the milk and cream in a saucepan large enough to hold the sliced potatoes comfortably, add the minced garlic, a generous sprinkling of salt, pepper (more than you’d think) and rosemary.
3. Add the sliced potatoes and bring the cream-milk mixture GENTLY to the boil, reduce the heat slightly and cook the potatoes for 10 minutes, give them a gentle stir every now and then to stop them catching. You’ll see the milk-cream mixture thicken after a while. If it gets too thick, add a splodge of milk.
Scribblings from a chaotic kitchen 