Potatoes are a versatile ingredient that can be prepared in numerous ways. Boiling, steaming, or mashing them are often the quickest methods for a speedy meal. However, these methods can sometimes result in bland dishes, unlike the rich flavours of creamy dauphinoise or seasoned chips.
Thanks to Mary Berry’s expert guidance, you can whip up a delicious potato gratin with minimal ingredients and tools, and it only takes a few minutes to prepare. In her cookbook ‘Cook and Share’, Mary shares her recipe for scalloped potatoes and roast chicken, stating: “Chicken is great value, but always buy free-range. Get two large birds for those who have big appetites. The scalloped potatoes are cooked in the oven at the same time, which makes it even easier.”
Mary Berry’s Scalloped Potatoes Recipe
Ingredients
1.2kg peeled potatoes
One onion
55g (20z) butter, plus extra for greasing
600ml (one pint) of chicken stock
If you’re serving the potatoes with chicken, start by preparing the raw, whole chicken. Stuff the bird’s cavities with bay leaves, sage, and lemon.
Mary suggests smearing the bird with butter seasoned with paprika, salt, and freshly ground black pepper. Before cooking, place the chicken in a roasting tin along with sage, garlic, wine and stock.
For the potatoes, begin by peeling and slicing them very thinly into discs. Peel the onion and slice it very thinly, then arrange the sliced potatoes in the greased dish.
Scatter over the onion and sprinkle a few cubes of cold butter over the top. Prepare the stock (if using a stock cube and boiling water), then pour it over the potatoes and onion.
Season with salt and pepper, then repeat the layers until all of the ingredients have been used. Butter some foil, then cover the dish butter-side down.
Now place the chicken on the top shelf of the oven and put the potatoes on the lower shelf to cook for an hour and a half. At the 45-minute mark, remove the foil from the potato dish and return it to the oven to continue cooking.