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Scalloped Potatoes
1 quart sliced raw potatoes 1 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon pepper 4 tablespoons butter (1/4 cup) 2 tablespoons flour 2 cups scalded milk Cover bottom of glass or other baking dish with sliced potatoes. Sprinkle with seasonings, dredge with flour and dot with the butter. Repeat until materials are used. Pour the scalded milk over all, and bake in moderate 375 degrees oven about 50 minutes. Serve 8.
A plain layered potato gratin thickened by the potato starch and a dusting of flour rather than a made sauce. It works, but a few points decide whether it comes out creamy or curdled and crunchy.
- A quart of sliced potatoesVolume, not weight: about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 lb of potatoes, or three medium russets, sliced thin. Slice no thicker than 1/8 inch or 50 minutes will not cook them through.
- Scalded milkHeat the milk until it steams and small bubbles rim the pan, roughly 180F, then use it. Hot milk starts the starch thickening immediately and shortens baking; cold milk from the refrigerator will leave the centre underdone at the stated time.
- The dish sizeUse a 2-quart baking dish, around 8x8 inches or a 9-inch round. The milk should come just to the top layer of potatoes, not over it.
- OvenThe recipe gives its own number, 375F, and it is right for this. Bake uncovered if you want a browned top; cover with foil for the first 30 minutes if the top is colouring before the potatoes soften.
- CurdlingWhole milk with no cheese or roux to stabilise it can break into grains at the edges. Keep the oven at 375F rather than pushing it higher, and let the dish rest 10 minutes out of the oven before serving so the liquid sets.
- Seasoning between layersThe salt and pepper are meant to be divided across the layers, not dumped on the first one. A quart of potatoes takes the full teaspoon of salt; season each layer lightly as you build.
- Testing for doneA thin knife should meet no resistance in the centre. If the top is brown and the middle still firm, cover and give it another 10 to 15 minutes.
- YieldEight side portions, as stated, but only as a side. Four if it is the main part of the meal.