Scalloped Russet and Sweet Potatoes

I believe I’ve mentioned before just how much we love potatoes. If I haven’t, well… we love potatoes. Anyway, I was flipping through my Better Homes and Gardens magazine a while back, and I came across a recipe that I knew instantly I had to try. I tested it out on Scott and our good friend Doug last night, and it was a HUGE success. Because they liked it so much, I’m going to share it here. It’s from the December 2011 magazine. Also, the recipe calls for a whole onion, but I only used half of an onion and that was perfect. I can’t imagine how onion-y this would have been with a whole onion!!!! It also calls for fresh, whole nutmeg and I used ground nutmeg in a jar because that’s all I had.

Ingredients (serves 8)

  1. 1 clove of garlic
  2. 1 Tbsp butter, softened
  3. 1 large onion, peeled (remember: I only used half of an onion)
  4. 2 Tbsp olive oil
  5. Salt and pepper
  6. 1/2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
  7. 2 cups milk
  8. 1/2 cup whipping cream
  9. 2 Tbsp butter
  10. 3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
  11. 5 medium Russet potatoes
  12. 1 medium sweet potato
  13. Fresh, whole nutmeg (remember: I used McCormick Seasoning’s ground nutmeg)

Directions

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.

  2. Peel all of the potatoes and slice them nice and thin, about 1/16” of an inch. (If you have a mandolin, now would be a FANTASTIC time to pull it out. This can TOTALLY be done with a sharp knife, but a mandolin is SO much easier!) Once you have the potatoes peeled, you can stick them in a pot of water to keep them from browning. Go ahead and slice the onion now, too. It needs to be sliced equally thin, about 1/16” per slice.

sliced

  1. Rub down the inside of a gratin dish (2 1/2 - 3 quart) with the peeled clove of garlic. (I smashed mine just the slightest bit to get it to open up and let out some juices. It seemed to work quite well.)

  2. Coat the inside of the gratin dish with the softened tablespoon of butter. Set aside.

  3. In a skillet over low heat, cook the onion in the 2 Tbsp olive oil until tender, seasoning well with salt and pepper. Once tender, remove the onions from the heat and stir in the thyme leaves. Set aside.

onions

  1. In a small saucepan, heat the milk and cream together until they are just simmering. (Stir often to keep it from frying to the bottom of the pan.)

  2. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Whisk in the flour until combined. (It will be chunky.) Remove from heat and whisk in the milk/cream mixture a little at a time until fully-incorporated. Return the pan to the heat and bring the contents to a gentle boil. Cook for 3-5 minutes (until it has thickened), stirring constantly. Remove from heat.

cream

UPDATE: I have found, after making this dish several times, that I might make this cream recipe 1 1/2 times rather than just the single. I feel like I don’t quite get enough of the cream sauce by the time I get to the third layer. Try it and let me know what you think!

  1. Dry out your potatoes (if you’ve had them in water) and layer one-third of the russet and sweet potato slices in the gratin dish. Season with salt, pepper, and a few light sprinkles of nutmeg.

  2. Scatter one-third of the onions onto the potatoes.

  3. Spoon one-third of the cream mixture onto the potatoes and onions, spreading it gently with a spoon or spatula to get as much covered as possible.

  4. Repeat these layers two more times (so you have potatoes, onions, cream, potatoes, onions, cream, potatoes, onions, cream), ending with the cream on top. (It’s okay if the cream doesn’t cover everything/reach all the way to the top. Just get as much covered as you can.)

beforecooking

  1. Bake uncovered for 45 minutes. Increase the oven temperature to 425 degrees and bake 10-15 minutes more (until the dish becomes a bubbly, golden crusty brown on top, and the potatoes are fork-tender). Remove from the oven and let stand a few minutes before serving.

ready

These potatoes go really well with sauteed Brussels sprouts and a baked ham! YUM!!

served