Scalloped Potatoes

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This is a recipe for a large dinner party. We had 12 for dinner, actually 15 with late comers, and almost all was eaten.


5 pounds of yukon gold potatoes, peeled and sliced rather thinly,

about 1/8th inch thick.
1 stick of butter, diced up into little bits
salt and pepper
3 - 4 cups of half and half
cheese, like Gruyère or Ementhal or Jarlsberg


Preheat the oven to 330 degrees (my oven will not go to 325).
Get a big baking dish, I got mine at IKEA, and butter the dish.
When the potatoes are done being sliced, after each potato, place the slices into cold water.
Then when all sliced, drain off as much of the water you can and pat them dry a bit.
Don't get too carried away with the drying, I actually put mine in the salad spinner a bit at a time.
Then as you've got some dried start working on arranging the potatoes artistically in the dish, in concentric circles. After each layer, put some dabs of butter over the potatoes, and some salt and pepper.
It used my micro-plane to shred a little cheese over the potatoes between layers. This was not a lot of cheese, just some.

Don't put cheese on the top of the last layer of potatoes, leave that for later.
When all the potatoes are in the dish, pour in the cream, and place in the oven for 70 minutes.
Then, turn the heat up to about 375 and cook for another 15 minutes or so, adding some cheese to the top layer. You do want to check the potatoes for doneness. This is not an exact science.
Serve immediately.

Smashed Potatoes

These were a really big hit.



5 pounds of russet potatoes, peeled and quartered
1 tablespoon corse salt

2/3 cup sour cream
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
1/4 + cup of cream
2 green onions, finely diced
fleur de sel
pepper

Put the potatoes into a pot and cover with cold water, add the corse salt, and bring to a boil and boil until the potatoes are done. I check by sticking a pointy knife into a potato. If the knife goes in easily then the potatoes are done.

Using a large slotted ladle, lift the potatoes out and place into a large flat-bottomed dish that you want to serve the potatoes in. Now understandably you might not have such a dish. So maybe then you can put them into a large pot. The reason for the flat-bottom is to make it easy to smash the potatoes.

Put in the butter first, and using a potato masher, smash a bit to start the butter melting. Add the rest of the ingredients and gently smash until nicely mixed. You do not want to make "creamed" potatoes, they need to still have a bit of texture. Taste for salt and pepper, adjusting as necessary.

Potato Salad

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2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, or russets, diced
4 tablespoons dill pickle juice
4 tablespoons finely chopped dill pickles
4 tablespoon sweet pickle relish
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
1/3 cup finely chopped red onion
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
1 or 2 chopped green onions
1 - 2 hard boiled eggs, chopped (optional)

1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons dijon mustard
salt and pepper to taste

Put the potatoes in a steamer and cook until tender. Put potatoes in to a large bowl add the juice from the dill pickles, the chopped pickles, parsley, onions, celery, and green onions.
In a separate small bowl, mix mayonnaise with sour cream, sugar, pickle juice, mustard and salt and pepper to taste. Mix in the dressing with the potato mixture. Add the hard boiled eggs, and salt and pepper to taste.

Now potato salad is a pretty loose thing. One can do as one likes. You can add more of this and less of that. Maybe you don’t want any eggs at all. Maybe you want bacon, or red peppers, or jalapeños. Or how about pepperocini.

"This is like deja vu all over again." Yogi Berra

Roasted Potatoes

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As many potatoes as you like. Maybe 8 to 10
olive oil
1 package dried onion soup mix
or 1 package taco seasoning
or anything you want to put on it

Preheat oven to about 375 degrees.
Get a big flat pan with short sides, cover with tin foil. Slice the potatoes into 8 wedges each.
Drizzle some olive oil over the potatoes on the pan. Sprinkle the soup mix over them, or whatever else you want, and toss about.
Cook for about 20 to 30 minutes covered with tin foil.
Then remove the foil and cook until nice and crispy, about 30 to 40 minutes.

If you like these can be cooked uncovered at a much lower heat. Like 300 or 325, or whatever. This works very well for while you are at church and want them finished when you get home.