potatoes

easy cheesy scalloped potatoes

March 8, 2020 by Becky Spoon

These cheesy scalloped potatoes were the perfect side dish for my Harissa Chicken. I wanted a side dish that could soak up with the juices from the chicken and wow, the potatoes were the perfect side dish. They are so tender and have amazing flavors from garlic, thyme and of course the cheese!

easy cheesy scalloped potatoes

I love scalloped potatoes. My mother would make them growing up and all she did was layer potatoes with onions, added lots of butter and salt and pepper, then poured whole milk over them to cover. She would bake them until they were golden on top and the potatoes were fork tender.

I used Yukon gold for this recipe. I love the Yukon gold potato. They have such a creamy texture and so buttery making them perfect for sopping up the chicken juices.

I used just a regular Parmesan cheese in this recipe. I like to use parmigiana-reggiano most times, but for this recipe it is not necessary. I purchased shredded or grated Parmesan that comes in a container. Here’s a link for what I used: https://amzn.to/2TAnNK5. You can find the grated or shredded in your local store.

Here’s the link for the Harissa Chicken: https://the2spoons.com/so-good-simple-harissa-chicken/

Here’s the recipe for these delicious potatoes! Enjoy!!

Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes

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Servings: 6 servings

Course: easy side dish, Side Dish, Vegetable

Cuisine: American

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

3 tbsp butter
1 small onion, thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup milk, half and half or heavy cream
1 1/1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 tsp fresh thyme leaves, divided
4 lbs Yukon gold potatoes, sliced into 1/8 inch rounds
1 cup grated parmesan cheese

Method

Preheat oven to 400°F. Butter a 9 x 13 baking dish.
Melt butter in a large sauce pan over medium-high heat. Add onion, and sauté for 4-5 minutes until soft and translucent. Add garlic and sauté for an additional 1-2 minutes until fragrant. Stir in the flour until it is evenly combined, and cook for 1 more minute. Gradually pour in the stock, and whisk until combined. Add in the milk, salt, pepper, and 1 teaspoon thyme, and whisk until combined. Continue cooking for an additional 1-2 minutes until the sauce just barely begins to simmer around the edges of the pan and thickens. Then remove from heat and set aside.
Spread half of the sliced potatoes in an even layer on the bottom of the pan. Top evenly with half of the cream sauce. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup of the shredded Parmesan cheese. Top evenly with the remaining sliced potatoes, the other half of the cream sauce, and the remaining 1/c cup of cheddar cheese.
Cover the pan with a lid or foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake uncovered for 25-30 minutes, or until the potatoes are cooked through.
When the potatoes are tender and if you want the dish a little more brown on top, turn the broiler on, watching at all times and brown just a little. Sprinkle with fresh thyme. Enjoy!

Best Cheesy Au Gratin Potatoes

October 29, 2019 by Becky Spoon

I made these Cheesy Au Gratin Potatoes as a side dish for my Beer Can Cornish Hen because I though how good they’d bee to sop up all those yummy juices from the sauce on the hens and I was right. The hens had a beautiful spice rub that made an even more beautiful sauce and the gruyere cheese I used in this dish just all went together so well. Here’s the link for my Beer Can Cornish Hen that you have to try! https://the2spoons.com/so-yummy-simple-beer-can-cornish-hen/.

I used gruyere which alway works well because it melts beautifully. You can use cheddar or another good melting cheese of your choice. These are really simple. I cook my potatoes first to the point of “almost done”. I drain them and add them to some sautéed onions, Then I butter a baking dish and stack the potatoes a few at a time. When all the potatoes are in the dish, I pour the sauce over and add just a little more cheese to the top. I then bake them until browned and bubbly.

Best Cheesy Au Gratin Potatoes

What’s the difference between Scalloped Potatoes and Au Gratin Potatoes? Here’s a little explanation for you: “Au gratin, by definition, means “covered with breadcrumbs or cheese and then baked until brown,” while scalloped potatoes refers to tubers that have been baked in a creamy sauce and covered with seasoned bread or cracker crumbs. The big difference between the two, then, is the cheese component.” Here’s the link for this reference: http://www.leaf.tv/articles/the-difference-between-potatoes-au-gratin-and-scalloped-potatoes/.

Here’s the delicious recipe! Enjoy!

Cheesy Au Gratin Potatoes

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Servings: 6 servings

Course: easy side dish, Side Dish, Vegetable

Cuisine: American

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

4 medium russet potatoes, medium sliced I used a mandolin and used the largest slice
chicken stock for cooking the potatoes
salt
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, sliced
2 tbsp flour
1 1/2 cup cooking broth from the potatoes
1 cup heavy cream
1 fresh sage leaf (optional)
2-3 sprigs fresh thyme
salt and pepper to taste
3 oz gruyere cheese

Method

Slice the potatoes in a medium sliced round. I used a mandolin set on the largest cut. Place the potatoes in a sauce pan and cover with chicken stock. Season with a little salt. Bring to a boil and cook about 6 or 7 minutes. Remove the potatoes to a bowl with a slotted spoon reserving the cooking liquid.
While the potatoes are cooking add the butter and olive oil to a skillet and add the sliced onions. Cook until the onions are a beginning to brown. Remove them and add them to the bowl with the potatoes reserving the oil in your skillet. Gently distribute or combine the potatoes and onions, being careful to not break up the potato slices. If you break some, no worries, but you do want to keep them whole if possible.
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Butter the dish and start stacking the potatoes in the dish until all have been used. Use a dish that will just hold those potatoes, not too big.
To make the sauce: In the butter and olive oil skillet that you cooked the onions and reserved, heat and add 2 tablespoons flour and cook for a minute or so until it starts to brown a lilttle. Add the 1 1/2 cup of the cooking broth and whisk to prevent lumps. When the sauce has thickened, add the heavy cream and all of the cheese except just a small portion that you'll add to the top before baking. Cook until heated throgh. Check for salt and pepper and adjusst. Pour the sauce over the potatoes and bake until golden brown. If you want a little extra browning, place them under the broiler for just a few minutes watching closely until your desired browness. Remove from the oven and serve immediately. They can be brought to room temperature and re-heated later.

Beer Can Cornish Hen
Cheesy Au Gratin Potatoes

Twice Baked Potatoes, Easy and Delicious

March 11, 2019 by Becky Spoon

Jump to Recipe

I can’t make twice baked potatoes without thinking of a lifelong friend of mine. She and I would cook together every weekend – actually much more than that. Jan would make baked potatoes and add lemon pepper, cheese, and green onions, I think? They were delicious, and since then I always add lemon pepper because I loved her baked potatoes so much! These are loaded with other goodies, and of course lemon pepper. The lemon pepper makes these potatoes.

These twice baked potatoes are loaded with roasted garlic, green onions, various spices, sour cream, lemon pepper, fresh jalapenos, cheese, topped with bacon bits and green onions! I used a medium cheddar this time, but I’ve used many different kinds of cheese in this recipe.

I used large russet baking potatoes for this recipe. You could use a medium-size russet, but I do like the russet because they are less likely to tear while you are removing the potato. There are other great potatoes, but like a Yukon Gold, their skins are so thin, they aren’t my first choice.

Wondering which potato is the best for certain recipes, like mashing or french fries? Here’s a link that describes the best use for each type of potato. https://www.tasteofhome.com/article/what-types-of-potatoes-are-best-for-which-recipes/

These potatoes are the perfect side dish for my grilled steak. Here’s the recipe: http://www.the2spoons.com/lucies-oh-so-good-easy-steak-on-the-grill/

Twice Baked Potatoes

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Servings: 2 servings

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

2 Large Russet Baking Potatoes, baked until fork tender Bake the potatoes salted and oiled with no foil
4 green onions, diced, saving a little for garnish
1 tsp roasted garlic
4 tbsp sour cream
1 tsp lemon pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp jalapeno, finely chopped (optional)
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 cup grated cheese of your choice, reserving a little to top the potatoes
2 slices bacon, cooked and chopped for garnish

Method

As noted in the ingredients, do not wrap your potatoes in foil, instead rub them in oil and salt them and place on a sheet pan and bake until fork tender. Then remove the potatoes from the oven and leave your oven on. With your potatoes laying lengthwise slice a top portion of your potatoes (Not halfway down, maybe 1/4 down) and scoop out into a bowl your potato from that slice and from the entire potato, being careful not to break the skin. Place your potatoes back into the oven for maybe 10 minutes or so allowing them to dry out a little in the pulp portion and the skins crisp up a little, kind of like potato skins.
Add all the ingredients to the potatoes, mashing and combining. Remove the potato skins from the oven and load the potatoes with the mixture, top with a little cheese and place back into the oven until cooked through and the cheese on top has melted, maybe 10 or 15 minutes, making sure your cheese does not brown. Garnish with sliced green onions and chopped bacon.

Popular – Creamy and Buttery Mashed Potatoes with Fried Shallots

January 30, 2019 by Becky Spoon

Ooh! These mashed potatoes are delicious! They are always the perfect side dish and a must for fried chicken… like my Southern Fried Chicken: https://the2spoons.com/finger-licking-southern-fried-chicken/

Mashed Potatoes just make everything better! They are creamy and buttery and I quickly fried a few shallot strings to top these with which makes them even more delicious!

Popular – Creamy and Buttery Mashed Potatoes with Fried Shallots

Heres a link that will give you a little history of mashed potatoes: http://thefederalist.com/2016/12/01/enjoy-delicious-mashed-potatoes-read-origin-story/

So, here’s my recipe! Enjoy!

Creamy and Buttery Mashed Potatoes with Fried Shallots

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Prep Time 10

Cook Time 25

Total Time 35

Servings: 4 servngs

Course: easy side dish, vegetable, Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

4 Russet large potatoes (add more if you want extras, but usually one potato per person)
water to cover
salt and pepper
1/2-2/3 whole milk, half and half, or heavy cream warmed
4 tbsp butter, or more if needed, melted and heated with the milk, cream or half and half
1 small shallot, sliced Optional

Method

Dice the potatoes in uniform pieces and add to a pot large enough for the potatoes to be completely covered by water. Add a little salt to the water. Bring to a boil and cook until the potatoes are fork tender. Very important, because if you undercook your mashed potatoes will be lumpy.
Drain the potatoes and return to the pan. With the heat still on let the potatoes cook on low to medium until the water has evaporated.
Heat the butter and 1/2 to 2/3 cup hot milk, half & half, or cream. I like to mash my potatoes in my stand mixer or with a hand mixer, but you can use a potato masher or better yet a ricer. Regardless, start mashing the potatoes, then add the butter and milk a little at a time. It’s hard to say exactly how much liquid, that’s why you want to add a little at a time to your desired consistency. Continue beating, adding the butter/liquid mixture as needed, until lumps are gone. Sometimes I use a ricer and this takes this step away. You’d just rice your potatoes, add the butter and liquid, then season to taste.
After your desired consistency is reached add salt and pepper to taste. You added a little salt to the water so be sure not to over salt. Add additional butter and combine if desired, or top the final potatoes with a few pats of butter.
Heat a little oil and quickly fry the shallot rings until browned, turning about 1 minute.
Bon Appetite! Serve with my green onion cream gravy and Frank’s Red Hot Wing Sauce Southern Fried Chicken!