Dauphinois recipes

This recipe makes the ultimate potato side dish. Note: Traditional Dauphinoise in France does not contain cheese, but you can add if you wish.
 

Ingredients
Serves 4
- 1kg potatoes (e.g King Edwards)
- 200ml single cream
- 600ml milk
- 50g butter
- Cayenne pepper
- Clove garlic

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. 

2. Peel and wash the potatoes and cut into 3mm thick slices (use a mandolin if you have one).
3. Add milk to a pan and bring to the boil. Season as you like and leave to stand for 5 minutes.
4. Lay sliced potatoes with the milk in the saucepan. Bring to the boil and cook for 5 minutes.
5. Season the cream with garlic, salt and a pinch of Cayenne pepper.
6. Butter a gratin dish (approx. 5cm high).
7. Spread a third of the potatoes in the dish and pour over a third of the cream.
8. Repeat the above for a second and third layer.
9. Melt the butter and pour it over the top.
10. Cook in the oven for 30 minutes or until the potatoes in the middle are soft.
8. If adding cheese, bake for a further 10 to 15 minutes until the cheese is golden and bubbly.

A speciality of the Dauphiné region, ravioles are little squares of pasta filled with cheese and parsley. Quick and easy to prepare, they can be served in a thousand different ways.

Ingredients
Serves 4

- 400g fresh or frozen ravioles
- 80g crushed walnuts (Grenoble Walnuts AOP)
- 80g blue cheese (Bleu de Vercors Sassenage)
- 320ml double cream
- 1 vegetable stock cube

Method

1. Reduce the cream in a saucepan with 1/2 stock cube.

2. Break up the blue cheese and add to the pan. Melt and mix gently.

3. Add half the crushed walnuts and season to taste.

4. Boil water in another pan with 1/2 stock cube.

5. Place ravioles in boiling water for about 1 minute; as soon as they're cooked they rise to the surface.

6. Serve the ravioles and sauce separately. 

Walnut trees love Isère, the home of the famous Grenoble walnut AOP. The climate’s neither too hot nor too cold. This classic recipe flavoured with rum dates back more than 100 years.

Ingredients

Serves 6
- 250g finely ground walnuts
- 125g unsalted butter
- 300g caster sugar
- 4 eggs
- 100g all-purpose (plain) flour
- 2tsp rum

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 150°C.

2. Separate the egg whites and yolks.

3. Beat the butter with the sugar and egg yolks.

4. Add the ground walnuts, rum and flour.

5. Beat the egg whites until stiff.

6. Gently fold in the egg whites.

7. Pour the mixture into a greased round cake tin and bake in a hot then moderate oven for 40 minutes.

Green-coloured Chartreuse liqueur is made by Carthusian monks in Isère from more than 130 local herbs and plants. The strong flavour is softened when added to this ice cream.

Ingredients
- 8 egg yolks
- 300g sugar
- 1l milk
- 1tsp crème fraîche
- 250ml green Chartreuse

Method
1. Beat egg yolks, sugar and cream.
2. Add the crème frâiche and green Chartreuse.
3. Chill in the freezer.

A tasty sugar and butter cake, the Foyesse from Crémieu in Isère is best served with coffee, tea, sparkling wine or a local beer. It's even better when warm.

Ingredients
- 500g flour
- 10g salt
- 25g sugar
- 4 eggs
- 15g baker's yeast
- 1/2 glass lukewarm water
- 300g softened butter
- 25g sugar

Method

1. Make a well in the flour and add the salt, baker's yeast and water and knead.
2. Add 300g of softened butter, and knead again.
3. Leave to rise for 1.5 hrs.
4. Fold the dough and let it rise again for another 1.5 hrs.
3. Spread the dough into a pie shape on a sheet of baking parchment and allow to rise for 1 hour.
4. Top the dough with bits of butter and coarse-grained sugar.
5. Bake in the oven at 200º C for 15 to 25 minutes and cool before serving.

Saint-Marcellin is similar to a small tomme made from a mixture of goat's milk and cow's milk and comes from around the Isère town of Saint-Marcellin. Saint-Marcellin cheese gives the fondue a spicy taste.

Ingredients
Serves 4-6

- 2 dry or soft Saint-Marcellin cheeses
- 200g Emmental cheese
- 250g fondue cheese (mix of Emmental, Beaufort and Comte)
- 350ml dry white wine
- A dash of walnut liqueur
- 1 clove garlic
- Crusty loaf

Method
1. Rub a fondue pan with the garlic clove.
2. Cut the Saint-Marcellin cheeses into small pieces.
3. Grate the Emmental and fondue cheeses.
4. Place all the cheese in the pan and add the white wine.
5. Heat the pan over a low heat, stirring continuously until the cheese is melted.
6. Add walnut liqueur (optional) and mix.
7. Cut the bread into small pieces and put it into a bowl. Put the fondue pan in the centre of the table and enjoy.

We've all heard of the creamy potato dish, gratin dauphinois. But these crispy potato puffs made with choux pastry are just as popular with children and adults. The recipe for pommes dauphines was invented in 1864 to keep guests busy whilst they waited for the dauphin (the future king of France) who, annoyingly, was always late to dinner. Here's how to make delicious pommes dauphines.

Ingredients
Serves 6

- 1kg potatoes
- 80g butter
- 200 plain flour
- 4 eggs
- a pinch of nutmeg
- 1 clove garlic
- Crusty loaf

Method
1. Boil peel potatoes in salty water for 30 minutes.
2. Drain and mash. Add 30g of butter, a pinch of nutmeg and a pinch of salt.
3. Bring 250ml of water with a pinch of salt to the boil with 50g of butter.
4. Remove from the heat and add 200g of flour.
5. Combine to form a dough and heat until thickened.
6. Add eggs and mashed potato.
7. Combine and make the mixture into little balls.

8. Fry the potato puffs in oil.