Gratin Dauphinoise

Gratin dauphinoise

OK so the big debate for this dish is - do you add cheese or not?  I am a definite no cheeser as I just don't think it needs it.  Jean Marc, however, it a cheeser and so to avoid argument I do half with and half without.

The art of a good dauphinoise is how thin you can slice the potatoes.  I sliced them in the slicer on my kenwood and an hours cooking is then all you need to make lovely winter potato dish.

Enough sliced potatoes to fill a gratin dish

Enough milk to cover the potatoes

Grated Gruyere cheese

Salt

Garlic clove cut in half

1 oxo cube

Small bits of butter

1 Peel and slice the potatoes into 1mm slices

2 Rub the garlic clove on the bottom of the gratin dish

3 Layer the potato slices (about a third of the way up the dish)

4 Sprinkle with salt, and knobs of butter and cheese (optional)

5 Put another layer of potatoes and sprinkle with salt and knobs of butter and cheese (optional)

6 Put a final layer of potatoes sprinkle with salt and cheese

7 Dissolve the oxo cube in a small amount of water and add to the milk

8 Pour the milk over the potatoes but not up to the brim of the dish otherwise it will overflow when cooking.

8 Cook for 1 hour at 180 C.  Test with a knife to make sure it is cooked.

Bringing in the New Year In Style

Happy New Year to everyone who has supported Jones - to those who have bought the wine, to those who have written about the wine and to those who have helped in the vineyards of Domaine Jones.

What better start to the year than a write up in The Sunday Times

Jones and the perfect steak

Blink and you'll miss it

Now I used to think that Paziols was in the back of beyond.  But that was before I went to Auriac.  Auriac is at least an hours drive from Paziols - inland!  But for us it was well worth the visit.  Elodie lives with her Mum and Dad and boyfriend Jerome in a little hamlet, not even in the mega metropolis of Auriac.

Elodie, the  cow herder and her papa and the aperitif

A little further up the hill lives her uncle and a little further down the hill her grandpa.  Elodie's Dad who was born in the house they still live in, has a herd of fine beef cattle who graze all year round on these remote pastures and once a year they sell the organic meat directly to consumers.  That night we had the most exquisite meal.  A big, juicy entre cote cooked on the barbecue of old vines and a bottle of Jones rouge.   Perfect!

Annie's delicious ratatouille

Mid July and Roger is starting to pick the first vegetables from his garden. Annie is ready with the frying pan to conjure up the most amazing ratatouille dish that captures the freshness of the onset of summer. Annie’s ratatouille is perfect as a side vegetable for grilled meat off the barbeque and can be enjoyed hot or cold. 


Ingredients for 4 people 
Preparation time 30 minutes 
Cooking time 45

2 aubergines 

3 courgettes 

1 large onion 

3 tomatoes 

salt 

2 cloves of garlic

1. Half peel the aubergine and cut into 2 cm cubes. 
2. Fry in olive oil until browned then remove from the pan. 
3. Top and tail the courgettes and cut into 1 cm cubes. 
4. Fry in olive oil until browned. Remove from the pan. 
5. Peel and slice the onion, brown in olive oil in frying pan then add the courgettes and aubergines back into the frying pan. 
6. Plunge the tomatoes into boiling water for 5 minutes then peel, deseed and cut into 1 cm cubes. 
7. Add to the frying pan, season with salt and simmer on a low heat for 30 minutes. 
8. Press the garlic and add to the ratatouille. Season with more salt if needed and cook for a further 15 minutes.

Annie's lamb Blanquette with potatoes

This one pot stew is a local variation on the classic Blanquette de Veau dish found elsewhere in France. The name of this dish is derived from the colour of the sauce which is white ‘blanc’ and is traditionally made with veal in a cream and egg sauce. Veal and cream were expensive ingredients so Annie (like her mother before her) has adapted the recipe to make a flavoursome stew using lamb as the main ingredient.


Ingredients for 4 people
Preparation time 30 minutes
Cooking time 1 hr





1 kg of neck of lamb cut into cubes (top of leg and shoulder can also be added)
Tablespoon of olive oil
Teaspoon of salt
Pinch of pepper
3 cloves garlic
Handful of chopped parsley
Tablespoon flour
Water
Thyme
Egg yolk
2 tablespoons of chilled vegetable stock
2 large potatoes peeled and divided into 4





1. Heat the oil in large flameproof casserole and lightly brown the lamb on all sides.
2. Add the salt and pepper and the chopped garlic and parsley and stir.
3. Continue stirring and add the flour to coat the pieces of meat.
4. Add the water so that it covers the meat.
5. Add the thyme
6. Give it a good stir then leave to simmer for 30 minutes with the lid on stirring occasionally.
7. After 30 minutes add the potatoes and leave to cook for a further 30 minutes. Remove from the heat. 8. Skim off the fat from the top of the sauce.
9. Beat the egg yoke with the chilled vegetable stock then add slowly to the sauce stirring as you do so. Make sure that the sauce is not boiling as otherwise the egg yolk will curdle.

Gold Medal for Jones rouge

Unbelievable news - Jones rouge 2009 has just won a Gold Medal at its first showing at an international wine competition!  Not only that but it was also awarded the Grenache Trophy beating 145 other wines.

So my 70 year old vines are finding success in their old age and I am so proud of them - I am off to give them a big pat on the back.