Gratin Dauphinois w/ Pan-fried haddock fillets

Ingredients

  • 3 Large potatoes
  • 1 Large onion
  • 4 Cloves of garlic (large size)
  • 150-200g Monterey jack cheese (medium is fine)
  • 1 pint whole milk
  • Fine salt, milled pepper
  • 1 Haddock, large
  • Tarragon, Lemon Juice

Equipment
  • Deep Oven dish
  • Measuring Jug

Instructions
Very simple dish although it sounds like a hassle to make.

Preheat to 200 C

Gratin Dauphinois (40 mins cooking)
  1. Take your deep oven dish and bush a small layer of milk onto the bottom - I do this so that I ensure the potatoes at the bottom are already covered with milk and obviously have a higher potential for absorption.
  2. Take your potatoes, peel and wash them. Half them, then chop finely.
  3. Take your Onion, remove the outer skin, half and then chop finely into semicircles of onion.
  4. Take the potato slices and cover the bottom of the deep oven dish with the potatoes in a nice even pattern.
  5. Take your onions and again place them as neatly as you can on top of the potatoes, any excess choppings should be added evenly to the top.
  6. Peel and crush your garlic, and again chop as finely as you can -- add evenly to the potatoes and onions.
  7. An Idea at this point is, if you want to add things such as almonds then by all means do so to enhance the flavor.
  8. Grate the cheese very evenly onto the top of the vegetables to form a layer. For best results, I'd suggest grating medium to large sized, as there's issues if you use small shards of cheese ( larger surface area, retain heat quicker)
  9. It's important that the cheese is placed on before the milk. Add in the milk again, evenly so that the milk is just at the level of the potatoes and that at least the top has been covered with milk to help the cheese to become part of the sauce.
  10. Place in the oven for 45 mins -- if your oven tends to overheat things, place foil over the top.
Haddock (15-18 mins cooking depending on size)
  1. If you don't know how to fillet a haddock, then ask your local butcher or fishmonger, or either at the counter of your local supermarket to provide you with a fillet cut of fresh fish. In the UK, most supermarkets offer this service.
  2. Once the haddock has been filleted, there are several things you can do to make different kinds of haddock to add to this dish. 
  3. For an alternative cooking method [POACHED] At the time of making this, I didn't have the time to poach the haddock but if you do have the time, take a section of cling film, add salt, ground pepper and olive oil to the foil, place tarragon on the base, haddock on top and then salt, pepper and olive oil & lemon on top. Place in the pan with boiling water for around 8-10 mins.
  4. In the picture above, I filleted the haddock, sliced into the fillet and stuffed it with tarragon and seasoned with lemon juice, then breaded the haddock.
  5. Once breaded, place on a tray, and cook roughly around 35 or so minutes after the gratin has been in the oven. Place into the pan with an amount of oil in there and evenly fry the haddockon both sides, cooking for around 10 to 12 minues.
  6. For info on cooking the haddock, check below -- usually requires 8-10 mins for a 1in thick standard cut.
Timing
  1. Depending on the size of your fillets, you'll need to time the gratin dauphinois with the fish so that they are both ready at the exact same time. For a 1-inch thick standard cut, the cooking time is around 10 minutes - so use this as a rough gauge.
  2. Your gratin is finished when the milk still remains but only as a very small amount on the bottom of the tray. If you leave the gratin too long, the potatoes will start to become dry and the cheese will burn -- be mindful to check the amount of milk at the bottom of the tray. When a small amount is dribbles down when you move the tray, you're roughly done.
Serve and enjoy.