potatoes boulangere

One thing that I'm going to miss about our flat is the position.

Not so much the location, not least as we are hoping to move within the same area, but the actual position of the flat within our block. We stick out of the back, poking into the car park, with windows on three sides (and only a front door on the fourth).  We have upstairs and downstairs neighbours but either side of us, just space. 

In the evenings, when we close the blinds to stop the wind from whistling through our hundred year old window frames and make our nest on the sofa, it feels like we're in our own little world. We create our own bubble where it's just the two of us.

I particularly noticed it over Christmas when we spent days curled up together, watching the DVDs and reading the books we'd given each other. But in the odd half hour we manage to snatch together during the working week, it's the same. Even last night, when my boyfriend had to work until the early hours of the morning and I'd had a day filled with petty frustrations, we were happy for the moment in our little bubble. 

Our together-time, especially at this time of year, mainly revolves around food. A cup of tea first thing in the morning, a bacon sandwich for a weekend breakfast and the time that I insist we set aside to eat in the evenings.

When I can, I like to make something 'proper' for dinner (which, to be honest, mainly involves putting something in the oven and going to do something else). These potatoes are one of our favourite accompaniments to a winter supper - not as rich and heavy as a dauphinoise or cream-laden gratin but just as delicious. At the weekend, we'll have them alongside some roast lamb or beef in a vague approximation of a Sunday lunch but I am just as happy to eat a plate with some bitter green leaves and a hunk of bread to mop up the juices.

~

Potatoes boulangeres
Slightly adapted from Delia Smith's Potatoes Boulangeres with rosemary

Yield: Serves 2 -3 (but easily doubled/tripled/etc)

When my mother makes this, it is normally much prettier and neater than when I throw everything in a dish. The prettiness, however, doesn't have much of an affect on the taste and it's delicious either way. The potatoes underneath are meltingly soft which contrasts nicely with the crispier ones on top. It's worth using a good quality stock (whether homemade or bought) because it gives so much flavour. Megan had a great tutorial for making homemade chicken stock earlier this week. 

Ingredients

• 2 or 3 large potatoes, peeled and sliced thinly
• 1 medium onion, sliced thinly
• Fresh thyme
• Salt and pepper
• 160ml (2/3 cup) stock (vegetable or other)
• 60ml (1/4 cup) milk
• A small knob of butter

Cooking Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F.
2. Place layers of potato and onion alternately in a small oven dish (ours is about 15cm x 10cm). In between each layer, scatter some fresh thyme and season with salt and pepper.
3. Mix together the stock and milk and pour over the potato and onion mixture. Scatter the top with a little more thyme and small pea-sized blobs of butter.
4. Bake for an hour or so until the potatoes are cooked through and the top potatoes are nice and crispy.