Old-Fashioned Scalloped Potatoes

By CheeseDiva

Ingredients

• 4 tbsp. unsalted butter, plus more for greasing
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 1/2 cup milk
• 3 tbsp. finely chopped thyme
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 2 1/2 lb. Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and very thinly sliced
• 1/4 tsp. paprika

Details

Servings 8
Adapted from saveur.com

Preparation

Step 1

Heat oven to 350°. Grease an 8" square baking dish with butter; set aside. Melt butter in a 6-qt. saucepan over medium-high heat. Add garlic and onion; cook, stirring occasionally, until golden, 8–10 minutes. Add flour; cook, stirring, until smooth, 2 minutes. Add cream, milk, thyme, salt, and pepper; bring to a boil. Add potatoes; cook, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are just tender, 8–10 minutes. Transfer mixture to prepared baking dish. Using a spoon, press mixture down; sprinkle with paprika. Bake until golden brown and a knife inserted into middle of potatoes slides in easily, about 40 minutes.

I followed the recipe (with small variations, like adding more garlic and paprika) and it came out pretty good. The suggested temperatures are too hot, so make sure not to go all the way. I'm more of a potatoes au gratin kind o'guy (a bit more flavor) - but I'm keeping this scalloped potatoes for my friends that are "afraid" of the spices and more adventurous dishes (in my repertoire!) Too bad I cannot post photos, I went a bit wild with the paprika (I need some flavor!) so it came out a nice "rusty" color - so far I've served it with steak (churrasco) and chicken (on chardonnay sauce) and received many compliments. If you want to see photos, check out my blog at: http://scriptainlapis.blogspot.com I post all sorts of ramblings - enjoy!

Used a mandoline, really made this easy. The initial phase of cooking the potatoes looks disastrous, stirring a clump of thin potatoes with thick, custardy cream, and some scorch on the bottom of the pan was unavoidable. But, into the 8" square, in and out of the oven, and INSANELY good.

Bizarre technique for precooking potatoes!! This is still the classic French "gratin" which can have cheese or not. The sauce is made and then poured over the vegetables (or other ingredients) in the baking dish. Personally, especially with potatoes, I pre-cook the vegetable in the microwave, then pour the sauce over and in the onion.