Scalloped potatoes
Frankly, I've never pulled this dish off right. It's always been too watery. This recipe changed that.
Ingredients
- 4 cups thinly sliced potatoes, original recipe, deprecated
- 1.5 lbs thinly sliced potatoes
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 1 1⁄2 cups milk
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 dash cayenne pepper
- 1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
- 1⁄2 cup grated cheese, to sprinkle on top
- paprika
Method
- In a small sauce pan, melt butter and blend in flour. Let cook while stirring occasionally untiil the floury smell is replaced by a nutty smell.
- Add cold milk bit by bit, stirring with a whisk bit by bit until it is all smooth.
- Season with salt and cayenne. Cook sauce on low until smooth and boiling, stirring occasionally with a whisk.
- Reduce heat and stir in cheese.
- Place a half of the sliced potatoes in a lightly greased one quart casserole dish.
- Pour half of cheese sauce over potatoes.
- Repeat with second layer of potatoes and cheese sauce.
- Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top.
- Top with some paprika for color.
- Bake at 350° for an hour.
These turned out just about perfect the first time. I sliced the potatoes on a mandolin, which makes it really easy. I feel odd about the "four cups" direction. Hard to measure sliced potatoes in cups. I think I basically used two.
2017-05-03: I made these again this evening, Last time I think I only used three medium-sized potatoes, and this time I used four medium and large ones. The result was that some of the potatoes were cooked not quite enough. I should use three medium-sized ones again next time. I also sprinkled a bit of thyme on top of each layer of potatoes. Don't bother to do that again. The taste wasn't really all that complementary.
2017-05-06: I made these again this evening. This time I used 1.5 pounds of potatoes, which was four medium sized ones. This turned out well, with just a touch of resistance left in the potatoes. From now on, no more than 1.5 pounds.