Dauphinoise Fish Finger Butty

This is a cult classic of mine, it’s potatoey goodness gone accessible - and I love to fucking see it. Mixing classic French cooking with my favourite tea when I was a kid, this is what cheffing is about. Taking something from your memory & moulding it into something new & exciting (and a little bit a lot unhealthy 😂). 

You will need: 

Mushy peas: 

• 500g frozen peas (fresh peas are a scam ask anyone) 

• 2 cloves garlic

• 1 lemon

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Dauphinoise Potatoes:

• 3 cloves garlic

• Couple sprigs of thyme

• 1 onion (white/red whatevs)

• 500ml whole milk 

• 150ml double cream

• Have a tub of butter ready to go (you’ll need it for the butty anyway)

• 2-3 medium potatoes 

• Salt (any kind of salt innit not tryna make you cop Maldon & then never use it again) 

• Cracked black pepper. 

• Any 3 cheeses you want but ideally Gruyère, cheddar & any hard cheese (like parmo or pecorino or padano).

Fish finger butty: 

• Two slices of thick white bread (the thickest possible fucking bread your tiny hands can find) 

• Shop-bought fish fingers

• Lettuce (I'd recommend iceberg or romaine)

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Tartare sauce:

• 5 gherkins

• 50g capers

• 1 white onion

• 200g mayonnaise. 

• (Or just get shop-bought , I won't judge)

• Lemon juice (use a squeeze from your mushy peas lemon)

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So to start, preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

I like to leave the skin on the spuds but you can take it off if you’re not a fan. Then mandolin/finely slice (1-2mm thin) your spuds.

Finely slice your onion and add to a medium-sized pot with 500ml of milk & bring to a low simmer (This will add a lovely onion-y flavour to your dauphinois).

Slice 3 cloves of garlic and add them to a pan with a tbsp of butter on low to medium heat. Add the garlic & sweat it off until slightly golden (releasing that garlic-y goodness). 

Once the garlic is done & the milk is heated, add the garlic, sliced potatoes & thyme into the boiling simmering pot of milk and onions. Allow to simmer for around 5-7 minutes. Like pasta, take one of the slices of potato out of the milk and test if it's cooked. It should be soft to bite but still retain its shape. 

Remove the potatoes from the milk but don’t get rid of the milk, place on medium to high heat, reduce it for 8-10 mins & add 150ml of double cream, to thicken up the milk/cream mix. It should be a thick, almost yoghurt-like consistency. If it is too thick, add more cream, too thin? Reduce for a couple more minutes.

When happy with the consistency, carefully layer out your potato slices into a casserole dish, like a lasagne - you’re gonna be doing layers. One layer of spud, one layer of the milk-cream mix. Repeat upto the brim of the dish. Then grate your desired cheeses over the top at your leisure and pop into the oven for 25-30 mins. 

While the dauphinoise is cooking, grab a clean pot and blanch (fancy word for a quick boil) 500g peas for around 2 minutes, make sure the peas are completely covered by boiling water. Once blanched, drain the peas using a sieve and rinse with cold water. 

Now depending on how mushy you like your peas, you can use different utensils: 

• Pestle & mortar for a chunkier, thicker mushy pea

• Stick blender for a medium-thick consistency 

• An immersion blender/ commercial blenders for the smoothest consistency

• Or if you’re like me and didn’t buy kitchen equipment till the ripe age of 21 you can just use a fork (but it will take fucking time). 

Once blended, smashed or mushy, add a squeeze of lemon, 25g of salted butter and stir. I also like to add a little bit of spice to the mix & add a gentle amount of chilli flakes into the mix to bring all the elements together - salt (butter), fat (butter), acid (lemon) and heat (chilli flakes). 

At this point you should have around 10-15 mins of cooking left on the dauphinois, so add your fish fingers to a tray & pop them int’ oven.

Finely slice some lettuce to top your butty and place your bread in the toaster (toast at your leisure).

If you want to make your own tartare sauce, finely dice capers, white onions, gherkins. Add 200g Mayo, sqeeze of lemon to a blender, add chopped components, blend, salt to taste & boom, you're ready to plate!

Smear a generous amount of mushy peas on one of your slices of toast. Next, place your dauphinoise, then fish fingers, then lettuce.  On the crown of the butty spread your tartare sauce and then place your lid on. If you have left over mushy peas, plate em on the side with an extra slice of dauphinois on the side as well if you're starvo.

Winner winner, fish finger dinner.