Potatoes Doria Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 160C/Gas 4/fan oven 140C. Rub the butter all over the surface of a gratin dish, about 18x28cm/7x11in. Peel and slice the potatoes to a width of 3mm/1⁄8in. Lay the slices on a clean tea towel and pat dry. Keep them covered with the tea towel while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
• Pour the milk and cream into a saucepan. Add the garlic, thyme and shallot (if using). Slowly heat the milk and, just as it is about to reach boiling point and you see bubbles appearing around the edge of the pan, remove it from the heat. Strain the liquid into a large jug, sprinkle in the nutmeg and keep warm.
• Layer half the potato slices in the dish, slightly overlapping the slices and sprinkling with a little salt and freshly ground pepper between each layer. You don't have to be too neat with the lower layers, but keep some of your best slices for later, so the top looks good.
• Pour half the hot milk and cream over the potatoes, then finish off layering the rest of the potatoes (arranging them a bit more carefully this time). Pour over the rest of the hot milk and cream. Scatter the cheese over the top and bake for about one hour, until golden and tender. Leave the dish to stand for about 5 minutes, then serve sprinkled with a few fresh thyme leaves.

Steps:

• Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Combine cheeses in a large bowl. Transfer 1/3 of cheese mixture to a separate bowl and set aside. Add cream, garlic and thyme to cheese mixture. Season generously with salt and pepper. Add potato slices and toss with your hands until every slice is coated with cream mixture, making sure to separate any slices that are sticking together to get the cream mixture in between them.
• Grease a 2-quart casserole dish with butter. Pick up a handful of potatoes, organizing them into a neat stack, and lay them in the casserole dish with their edges aligned vertically. Continue placing potatoes in the dish, working around the perimeter and into the center until all the potatoes have been added. The potatoes should be very tightly packed. If necessary, slice an additional potato, coat with cream mixture, and add to casserole. Pour the excess cream/cheese mixture evenly over the potatoes until the mixture comes halfway up the sides of the casserole. You may not need all the excess liquid.
• Cover dish tightly with foil and transfer to the oven. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and continue baking until the top is pale golden brown, about 30 minutes longer. Carefully remove from oven, sprinkle with remaining cheese, and return to oven. Bake until deep golden brown and crisp on top, about 30 minutes longer. Remove from oven, let rest for a few minutes, and serve.

Steps:

• Trim off the ends of each cucumber. Using a swivel-bladed paring or scraping knife, scrape off the skin of each cucumber. Split cucumbers lengthwise in half, and scoop out and discard the seeds of each half. Cut each cucumber in half crosswise into very thin slices. There should be about 3 cups.
• Cut potatoes in half and put each half cut side down on a flat surface. Cut each half, in a downward motion, into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Cut the slices uniformly into 1/4-inch-thick ''sticks.'' Put the pieces into a basin of cold water until ready to use.
• Drain potatoes and put them in a saucepan. Add one cup water and salt and bring to the boil. Let simmer 5 minutes.
• Add cucumber slices and cover. Let cook about 3 minutes. Drain immediately. Add butter and dill and stir gently to blend thoroughly. Serve.

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat.
• Add the bacon and let it render slowly in the olive oil, stirring every so often to keep it from sticking, for about 5 minutes, until it starts crisping up.
• Add the onions, leeks, and red pepper flakes. Turn the heat up to medium-high, mix the vegetables and the bacon together well, and let them cook for about 3 minutes, stirring every so often, until the onions and leeks have started to soften but the onions have not colored.
• Add the carrots, celery root, potatoes, Jerusalem artichokes, salt, pepper, chicken broth, and the herb packet. Mix everything together. Then turn the heat to high and let the soup cook at a low bubble for about half an hour, until the vegetables soften up (but before they get super-mushy).
• Add the kale, stir it into the soup, and cook it down for about 10 minutes, until it's soft and cooked all the way through. Pull out the herb packet.
• Serve the soup with some good bread on the side. I like to top each bowl with a drizzle of hazelnut or pumpkin-seed oil and a sprinkling of cheese.