Scalloped Potatoes

This is a recipe for my cousin Jenny 😛

You see, we have the same splurge of a pot, and I promised her that I’d load her up on recipes for it, which I hadn’t done. Until now. Consider this the start, though I also make chicken with 40 cloves in it. Looking at those pictures again is making me really want that for dinner too, good thing I’ve got a whole chicken in the fridge and well over 40 cloves in my garlic and onion bowl.

That was one hell of a side track. Back to the potatoes at hand.

This is one of those things I like to have everything ready to go ahead of time. So, first off, chop up a medium onion in a small dice, and get your thyme, garlic, salt and pepper ready to hit the pot.

Melt some butter.

Get that onion cooking, this will take about 5 minutes to soften, the perfect time to get your potatoes ready.

See. Please, only make this if you have a mandoline. They can be as cheap as you want, like, $7 cheap, and it’ll do the job perfectly well. I would go crazy slicing these by hand. Half of them would be way too thick, and the rest too thin, I just know it.

The onions are finished when they’re softened and just starting to brown.

Toss in the thyme, garlic, salt and pepper and give it a quick stir for about 15 seconds, just until you begin to smell it.

Measure out your liquid, equal parts heavy cream and chicken stock.

Toss in your bay leaves.

Pour it on top of the potatoes, give it a little stir, get it boiling, put the lid on, simmer and walk away for 10 minutes.

Viola! What, not what you were expecting? It’s a good think we aren’t done then. Flatted the potatoes as best you can with a wodden spoon (just so you don’t have a bunch sticking out of the sauce).

Top with cheddar cheese, then pop it into the oven for 20 minutes.

Now we’re finished. Well, once it sits for 10 minutes to thicken up and cool just a little. That ten minutes makes it a lot easier to dish up!

And if you can’t wait, just do what I did and eat it out of the pot while you wait!

Here’s the printable:

Scalloped Potatoes

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 50 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

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Ingredients

• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 medium onion, chopped fine
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1¼ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp pepper
• 5 medium potatoes, sliced thin (russet or Yukon gold)
• 1½ cups heavy cream
• 1½ cups chicken broth
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 425ºF with a rack in the middle position.
2. Melt the butter in a large Dutch oven over med-high heat. Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes, until softened and just starting to brown. Add the thyme, garlic, salt and pepper and stir until fragrant, about 15 seconds.
3. Add the potatoes, broth, cream and bay leaves. Give the potatoes a gentle stir, bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cover, continuing to cook for 10 minutes and stirring occasionally.
4. Uncover, remove the bay leave and press down gently on the potatoes to create a fairly even top layer. Top with cheddar cheese and put in the oven. Bake until bubbling around the edges and the cheese is starting to brown. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.