Signs of spring and we celebrated with a half leg of lamb.

Simon Hopkinson in Week In Week Out serves best end of lamb with a gratin Dauphinois which I thought would also go well with our roast.

SH’s method is convincing. He mingles the infused cream with the raw potato slices with his fingertips, ‘Be assured, this briefest of messy moments will result in a far superior gratin Dauphinois than that of most of your other gratin Dauphinois-making chums…’ and partially cooks the potatoes in the cream in a large frying pan before transferring them to a baking dish.

For once I disagree with SH and have, instead, gone back to making gratin Dauphinois the way Elizabeth David recommends in French Provincial Cooking, partly because in her recipe progresses at a slower pace and also because she gives only a hint of garlic. That doesn’t mean, however, that it is not a very good idea to gently move the potato slices in the cream to make sure they are well coated.

500g ‘yellow’ potatoes, e.g. Pink Fir
250ml thick cream
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 clove garlic
30g butter

Peel and, preferably using a mandoline, slice the potatoes into rounds no thicker than a £1 coin. Rinse them thoroughly in cold water and pat them dry with kitchen paper.

Place the potato slices in a shallow earthenware dish which has been rubbed with garlic and well buttered. Season well. A little grated nutmeg might also be used. Pour over the cream and dot the remaining butter on top.

Cook in a low oven,150°C, for 1½ hours. For the last few minutes of cooking turn the oven up high to give the potatoes a golden crust.