I’ve been making Marco Pierre White recipes, again from the BBC Maestro masterclass. This time tackling his potato dauphinoise.
I’ve talked about potato dauphinoise many times on this blog – many times – so I’m always up for trying it another way, especially when it comes from as prestigious a chef as Marco.
Very simple – peel and slice potatoes, add cream, garlic, salt and pepper and nutmeg if you like, a little cheese, bake for 80 minutes.
I tried his recipe out – video below – and if I’m honest… I prefer my way of cooking it. I learned from the brilliant chef Jon Jones to simmer the potatoes in the garlicky cream first which means you can control the seasoning and drop the cooking time a little too. This way you can’t tell how it will taste until serving.
Combine the cream, salt, pepper, garlic and a few rasps of nutmeg. Dump in the potato slices.
Arrange the potato slices in a casserole dish, ladling on cream mix as you go. Finish with cheese and cover with buttered tin foil. Bake in the oven for 60 minutes, remove the foil then bake for 20 minutes more until there is no resistance when prodded with a knife.
I recently got hold of a copy of Marco Pierre White’s White Heat book from the library. It is a cookbook but really it’s a capture of a time and a place: when Marco was on top of the culinary world and the absolute hottest thing in chefs and cookery. I hadn’t read it before; I devoured it an hour and immediately ordered a copy for myself.
The photography, all black and white, is still crisp, clear and full of motion and emotion. The words from Marco are full of his cool directness. The recipes are surprisingly good; unpretentious and focused on celebrating a core ingredient. One stood out to me: Marco Pierre White’s lemon tart.
As I read it, I suddenly remember it seems familiar: there’s a very similar one in Heston at Home that I’ve made before.
It should come as no surprise there is a similarity. The backgrounds of Marco and Heston overlap. Heston’s first job at a restaurant was a week spent at Raymond Blanc’s Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons. They struck up a friendship that stuck. While Heston ploughed his unique furrow Marco did the traditional route of moving up from kitchen to kitchen learning from Pierre Koffman, Albert and Michel Roux Sr and Raymond Blanc as mentioned. The classic French method was drummed into him, and while Heston studied at home it was the French classics he drilled. Heston even spent time at White’s Canteen to learn how to run a team of chefs before opening The Fat Duck.
Marco’s tart
I made the lemon tart immediately. It is thick and custardy, very satisfying. Though he does recommend grilling the top to brulee the sugar topping, I found it hard to protect the pastry from burning – I would cover the pastry in foil if trying again. As a recipe itself it also lacks crucial detail. We’re told to mix the filling ingredients – but until when? Just combined? Beaten smooth? And there’s no indication what size pie dish you should be using. The depth of the filling means you can’t tell when it will cook convincingly. I’m all for improvising in the kitchen – an advocate in fact – but with pastry dishes precision is everything.
Heston’s tart on the left, Marco’s on the right
I couldn’t help but compare Marco and Heston’s tarts. Heston has an unnecessarily fussy pastry recipe, but has the smart idea to part-set the custard over a bain marie before transferring to the oven. And in classic Heston style check the set temperature with a probe to get consistent results. And to avoid burning use a blowtorch to finish.
Overall I found Heston’s far more enjoyable, more what I expect of a lemon tart. The lemon had more zing, and the filling itself is unctuous and creamy.
If I was to make it again, I’d use whatever pastry recipe you are happy with, or even buy a dcent pre-made case, then go Heston’s method for the filling. It’s dead easy, just warm things in a bowl over the hob, then pour into the case. You will need a probe thermometer.
Both great recipes, but fascinating to explore what makes the differences.
Pre-heat the oven to 180C. Sieve the flour and icing sugar and rub in the butter.
Mix in the lemon zest and vanilla seeds.
Beat the eggs and add to the mix. Knead the mixture with fingers, then wrap in clingfilm and leave to rest for 30 minutes in the fridge.
Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface to a size just large enough to fill the flan tin or ring to be used.
Using either a greased flan ring on a greased baking sheet, or a greased flan tin with a removable base, fold the dough into it. Gently ease the dough into the corners of the tin, ensuring a good 1cm/2in overhang. Do not cut this off.
Line the flan with greaseproof paper and fill with enough dry baking beans or lentils to ensure that the sides as well as the base are weighted. This helps give a good finished flan shape.
Bake in the oven for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, remove the beans and greaseproof paper and trim the overhang from the flan. Return the flan to the oven for a further 10 minutes.
For the lemon filling:
Whisk the eggs with the sugar and the lemon zest.
Stir in the lemon juice and then fold in the cream. Remove any froth from the top of the mixture.
Reduce the oven temperature to 120C.
Pour the cold filling into the hot pastry (this ensures that the pastry case will be sealed and hold the filling) and bake for 30 minutes in the oven.
Pre-heat a very hot grill.
Sieve the icing sugar over the tart as soon as it comes out of the oven and then flash it briefly under the grill to caramelize the sugar.
When you order the ‘steak experience’ at a Miller and Carter restaurant you get to choose a sauce. I’m a big fan of the beef dripping sauce but the fruity bordelaise is a good choice. Want to know how to make it at home? This how you can make the bordelaise sauce Miller and Carter style.
Bordelaise sauce is a classic of French cooking. Originating from the Bordeaux region in France, the Bordelaise sauce is a rich and luxurious creation that marries the depth of red wine with the subtle sweetness of shallots and the indulgence of butter. Bordelaise comes from using Bordeaux wine – technically if you use another wine it isn’t truly Bordelaise, but as long as you don’t tell anyone a strong red wine will give you a great sauce.
There are few key ingredients:
Shallots: begin with finely chopped shallots, which add a delicate onion flavour to the sauce. You could use red onion instead.
Butter: quality unsalted butter is key to achieving the creamy and velvety texture that Bordelaise sauce is known for. It will give it a glossy finish.
Red wine: opt for a good-quality red wine, ideally a Bordeaux or Cabernet Sauvignon, to infuse the sauce with robust and fruity notes. The key is to add it in two stages: half to make the base of the sauce that you will reduce down to a sticky glaze, then the remainder will keep the fruity, smooth flavour.
Beef stock: a rich beef stock finishes the sauce, enhancing its savoury character. If you can get veal stock, so much the better.
Before serving, taste your Bordelaise sauce and adjust the seasoning as needed with salt and pepper. Strain the sauce if you wish to remove the shallots.
Bordelaise sauce is not only a natural complement to steaks but also pairs beautifully with roasted meats, lamb, and even pasta dishes.
Put a shallow pan over a low heat and melt half the butter. Add the shallots and sweat gently for a couple of minutes until softened.
Add half the red wine and turn the heat up high to bubble and boil away. Make a mental note of where the wine fills up the pan to, and then allow it to bubble furiously until reduced by half. Then add the rest of the wine and continue to reduce.
When the sauce has reduced again by half add the stock and stir to blend in for a minute. It's finished at this point - when ready to serve take off the heat. Add the remaining butter and swirl the pan until it has melted. If you want a smooth sauce strain off the shallot, otherwise serve as is. Check for seasoning before serving.
Notes
This sauce can be made a couple of days in advance and zapped in the microwave to serve, just hold back the finishing butter. It'll freeze good too.
I’ve been browsing the BBC Maestro series; a selection of masterclasses from famous experts in their field. Filmmaking with Edgar Wright, photography with Rankin and much more besides. What caught my eye was the series of food classes with Marco Pierre White. I thought I’d try Marco Pierre White’s fondant potatoes.
Marco has a shaman-like quality in this series: wise and patient, imparting gems from his vast experience in a lifetime of kitchens. It’s serious and verging on pretentious but the knowledge he is dropping is absolute gold.
Even with this basic recipe – just potatoes, butter, water and salt – is a penitent affair clocking at over 7 minutes deliberately telling you to take your time.
I made it once and it was fine, but I’d gauged the pan wrong and it was far too large so the potatoes cooked through before they had coloured. Working on a smaller pan with less potatoes meant I could control it much more easily and they coloured a treat.
The potatoes were good – but really you’re eating about 100g butter in each bite so I’m not surprised. But they toed the line between boiled potatoes and roasted potatoes to a point where I was conflicted it wasn’t either of them. So I don’t love it, but it was fascinating. In fact it gave me an idea for two more potato recipes – including an improvement on my master recipe for roast potatoes! – so I’ll take getting inspired as a win. Probably what Marco intended anyway?
You can browse the BBC Maestro site for yourself here
Peel the potatoes, and cut off the tops and bottoms to give a flat surface.
Cut the butter into 1cm slices and lay in a frying pan. Lay the potatoes on top of the butter and season with salt.
Pour in enough water to so that it’s just below the surface of the potatoes. Open up the butter paper and lay on the potatoes.
Place the pan on the hob and bring to the boil. Simmer the potatoes gently in the butter and water.
Let the potatoes simmer hard in the butter until they are evenly and deeply browned on one side and then flip them. Season with more salt.
Once cooked through remove them from the heat and cover in a double layer of cling film. Leave the potatoes off the heat to rest in the butter for about an hour.
Finish by brushing the potatoes with a little of their own butter juice, then check if they need more salt.
