I first made this dauphine potato recipe as an apprentice chef. Years later, I decided it would make the perfect topping for my gurnard and seaweed pie. Red gurnard is an ideal base, its firm texture, sweetness and rich shellfish characteristics shine through, even beneath the golden potato topping. The seaweed brings a level of complexity and savouriness to the pie that spinach or other green vegetables just can’t, so take the time to source the best quality.
Ingredients
- 500ml (2 cups) full-cream (whole) milk
- 2 tablespoons white miso paste
- 10cm piece of kombu
- 10g bonito flakes
- 50g butter
- 50g (1/3 cup) plain (all-purpose) flour
- 20g dried wakame seaweed, softened in cold water
- sea salt flakes and freshly cracked
- black pepper
- 800g boneless red gurnard fillet, skin on, cut into 3cm chunks
Dauphine potato
- 1kg whole royal blue or Dutch cream potatoes
- rock salt, for cooking
- 50g butter
- 100ml water
- pinch of sea salt flakes
- 100g (2/3 cup) plain (all-purpose) flour
- 3 eggs, lightly beaten
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- freshly grated nutmeg, to taste
- freshly cracked black pepper
- 1 egg, extra, plus 1 egg yolk, lightly beaten to make an egg wash
Serves 4-6
Whisk the milk, miso, kombu and bonito flakes in a saucepan over a medium heat. Bring the mix up to approximately 85°C and hold over a low heat to keep warm for about 20 minutes.
In a separate saucepan, melt the butter over a medium heat. Add the flour and cook for 2 minutes or so, stirring with a wooden spoon to form a roux. Remove the strip of kombu from the hot milk and strain off the bonito flakes, then gradually add the strained milk to the roux, one-third at a time, whisking after each addition to create a smooth sauce. When you have incorporated all the milk, bring the sauce to the boil and add the softened wakame. Season to taste, then remove from the heat and closely cover the sauce with plastic wrap or baking paper to stop a skin forming. Refrigerate until completely cold.
Add the gurnard chunks to the chilled bechamel and combine well, then spoon the filling into a 2.5-litre (10-cup) baking dish or two smaller baking dishes suitable for a pie. Preheat the oven to 190°C.
For the dauphine potato, place the washed potatoes on a baking tray covered with a generous layer of rock salt and bake for 1 hour, or until tender when pierced with a skewer or sharp knife. Remove the potatoes from the tray one at a time, then, while hot, scoop out the flesh into a wide-based saucepan. Mash and then stir over a low heat for 1–2 minutes to steam off any excess moisture.
Increase the oven temperature to 200°C.
Place the butter, water and salt in a large saucepan over a low heat until the butter has melted. Increase the heat to medium–high and bring to the boil, then remove from the heat and beat in the flour until well combined. Set the pan back over a medium heat and beat for a further 2–3 minutes until the mixture comes together and starts to leave the side of the pan. Transfer to a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat for 1–2 minutes until the dough is no longer hot but still warm. Add the egg a little at a time, checking the texture of the mixture as you go until it reaches dropping consistency (that is, it should fall very slowly from a spoon when held over the bowl). You may not need all the egg to reach this point.
Combine the dauphine base with 500g of the warm mashed potato, stir in the baking powder and nutmeg and season liberally with salt flakes and pepper. Scoop the mash into a piping bag and pipe evenly over the filling. Brush the surface lightly with the egg wash, then drag a fork from one end of the pie to the other to create indentations in the potato.
Bake for 35 minutes, or until the dauphine potato is crisp and golden. Finish with a sprinkling of salt flakes, then rest the pie for 5 minutes before serving.
Recipe extracted from Take One Fish
by Josh Niland
RRP $60, Hardie Grant Books
