Yesterday, @verybritishproblemsofficial asked a very difficult question:

“If you could only keep three vegetables for the rest of your life, what would you pick?”

Very British Problems

It really got me thinking, but it was only when Adam mentioned potatoes that I realised they would have to be one of them. To me potatoes are an essential part of life. They aren’t the additional vegetables that you have to eat for important vitamins. They are a diet staple and a key part to many meals. They were one of the reasons back in the 90s and 00s when the Atkins diet was a big trend that I knew I could never do it, if I was ever to go on a fad diet that is.

When you factor in onions, another vegetable that is an essential part of cooking, I’m left with one additional option. That made the decision even harder, and I still don’t think I could choose, though of course Brussels sprouts are up there as a serious contender.

Today I had another difficult, everyday decision to make – what to cook for dinner.

We’re at that point where we have very little food in the fridge, cupboards or the freezer, so shopping would have to be done, but I knew there were a couple of things in the fridge that I could make a meal around: potatoes and cream. Simple, we would be having dauphinoise potatoes.

Without a doubt, dauphinoise is one of my favourite potato dishes, and one that I used to consider a treat. Potatoes, garlic, cream. Three of my favourite foods. It’s a dish that ticks all the boxes. I’ve been known to choose items from a menu when eating out solely because the dish included dauphinoise.

In the early days of lockdown I treated myself to a new mandoline (a vegetable slicer that is, not to be confused with a mandolin, the musical instrument). Those days of fearing sliced fingers in the process of slicing vegetables were gone. In those dark days of being stuck at home, good food was one of the things we needed to get through. Dauphinoise became one of those treats that I started making more regularly.

I never thought it would become a dish that I could cook without relying on a recipe (apart from for ingredient quantities) and would throw together for a Monday night dinner. I’ve discovered it’s dead easy to make, as long as I have my trusty Delia cookbook to hand (sadly her recipe isn’t available on deliaonline.com). I ignore the fact she say it’s need cooking for 1.5 hours at 150°C though. Turn the heat up a bit and it’s ready in 45 minutes. Best of all, there’s leftovers for dinner tomorrow night.