Friday, April 1, 2016

Easy Scalloped Potatoes au Gratin

We had these potatoes recently when my family visited, and I realized that I'd never written the recipe down.  This is so simple.  The dish is rich and tasty, and it is a great dish to master for college students.  Bonus is that if you have leftovers, you can add them to a frittata  or just nosh on them the next day--if you end up with leftovers, that is.  :)  BTW, I prefer an equal mixture of half and half and milk for mine.  


I know, this is a bad picture, but you get the general idea.


Ingredients
  • 3 lbs Yukon Gold or Russet potatoes, scrubbed and sliced to ¼ inch.  (Peel if unappealing. . . pun intended).  Do NOT rinse the sliced potatoes.  (Depending on the size of the potatoes, this could be about 5 medium sized potatoes.)
  • 4 T butter
  • 2-3 C milk or cream or half and half.  Do NOT use 2% or low fat.
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Grated nutmeg (a sprinkling)
  • Crushed fresh or dried thyme (a sprinkling)
  • ½ to ¾ C cheese of your choice (suggestions: gruyere, Romano, parmesan, gouda, white cheddar)

Directions
  • Preheat oven to 325
  • Butter a 1 quart dish with 2 T of the butter (reserve rest)
  • Layer sliced potatoes into the dish in an artistic manner of your choosing.  You can do 2 layers if you want, but feel free to toss extras if you end up with your masterpiece.
  • Pour milk/cream over mixture to come just to the top, but not to cover the potatoes.
  • Dot with remaining butter
  • Salt and pepper lightly
  • Grate nutmeg and sprinkle with thyme
  • Put into oven for 35 minutes, checking to see how the browning is going
  • When it is just starting to color (30-40 minutes into the cooking), sprinkle with the cheese
  • Continue to cook until it looks tasty. Poke with fork to ensure it is cooked through.  If you have to cook longer, that is just fine.
  • Remove and let cool for 5 minutes before serving

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