Not to be confused with pommes à la dauphinoise, pommes dauphine are little mouthfuls of mashed potato, lightened with choux pastry, then deep-fried. They puff into little feather-light balls of potato goodness, and are excellent served in place of roast potatoes as a side dish, or on their own as a snack or appetiser. We’ve seasoned ours with a fragrant herb salt; they’re also amazing with kombu butter.
Ingredients
Herb and lemon salt
Method
1.Cover potatoes generously with cold salted water in a saucepan, bring to the boil and cook until tender when pierced with a skewer or sharp knife (25-30 minutes). Drain, then, when cool enough to handle, peel and coarsely chop. Return to a clean pan, mash, then stir over low heat to steam off excess moisture (1-2 minutes).
2.Meanwhile, make the choux pastry, then beat in mashed potato, herbs, baking powder and nutmeg. Season generously to taste.
3.Heat oil in a large, deep saucepan to 180C. Add rough tablespoonfuls of potato mixture in batches of 5 or 6 and deep-fry, turning occasionally, until golden brown (2-3 minutes; be careful, hot oil will spit). Drain on paper towels.
4.Meanwhile, for herb and lemon salt, rub ingredients together in a bowl with your fingertips until fragrant and combined, and season to taste with freshly ground black pepper. Scatter mixture over pommes dauphines and serve hot with Dijon mustard for dipping.
