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September 28, 2006
S is for Scalloped Potatoes
My family loves scalloped potatoes and I'll bet yours does, too. I don't make them very often but when I posted about finding my mom's recipes a few weeks ago my college buddy Chrissie left a comment about how much she loved my mom's scalloped potatoes. I had been craving them ever since so I made them last Monday night.
I know all about making traditional scalloped potatoes with a white sauce. And on holidays or special occasions, that's what I do. But my mom's version, and now my version I suppose, is much simpler and easier for week nights. Here's my non-recipe for scalloped potatoes.
Potatoes, about 2 per person depending on how big they are
Onion, usually only 1 unless you're making a huge amount
Butter
Milk
Flour
Salt & Pepper
Kellogg's Corn Flake Crumbs
Peel and slice the potatoes and the onion. Now, get out a casserole dish. You can spray it with Pam or something if you'd like to help prevent sticking. Place a layer of potatoes in the casserole dish and top with all of the sliced onion. Now sprinkle with flour. I'm not sure how much, just put some on a spoon and shake it all over the potatoes and onions. Add salt and pepper and a few thin pats of butter. Top with another layer of potatoes (no onions this time), flour, salt, pepper and butter. End with the final layer of potatoes and then sprinkle Kellogg's Corn Flake crumbs all over the top. This makes them nice and crunchy on top. Now, pour some milk in. I do this over on the side so as not to wash off the corn flake crumbs. I'm not sure how much milk. Enough so you start to see it come up the sides about 1/4 - 1/2 inch or so. Put it in a 350 oven and bake for an hour or more until the potatoes are soft when you stick a knife in them.
That's it. The flour and milk and butter make a sauce that cooks up between the layers and it's just delicious. Sometimes I add some grated cheddar cheese between the potato layers, too, but mostly we love them just plain. And my mom always made them with pork chops on top. Mmmmm.
Thanks for reminding me that I love these, Chrissie. I not only had them with roast pork on Monday night but I also had them for breakfast on both Tuesday and Wednesday morning because they re-heat great.
Let me know if you try them!
Posted by Carole at September 28, 2006 7:00 AM
Comments
Mmmmm. We like it with ham, too! This is probably my #1 comfort food and the #1 dish I compare to my mother's. ; ) Yum. I don't think I've tried it for breakfast yet, though, so I'll have to give that a try next time (which will probably be sooner than later now).
Posted by: Vicki at September 28, 2006 7:23 AM
Mmmmm. We like it with ham, too! This is probably my #1 comfort food and the #1 dish I compare to my mother's. ; ) Yum. I don't think I've tried it for breakfast yet, though, so I'll have to give that a try next time (which will probably be sooner than later now).
Posted by: Vicki at September 28, 2006 7:24 AM
Oh those look good....
Posted by: Karen at September 28, 2006 7:32 AM
i'll have to try these after my parents leave. my mother would be weirded out by the cornflakes.
Posted by: maryse at September 28, 2006 7:38 AM
Oh, yum! And I love me a good shortcut! Why make that white sauce ahead when it'll make itself? Can't wait to try these, Carole, and I'm sure my family will love them. I think I too would make them with ham, and maybe a few slices of sweet potato to spice things up. Oh, wait. Now I'm thinking. This would be great with any of the hard winter squashes too, wouldn't it? Yay! Thanks for sharing.
Posted by: Ann at September 28, 2006 7:39 AM
Oh Yum. It is starting to be potato weather - I will have to try your recipe soon!
Posted by: meg at September 28, 2006 7:56 AM
That's exactly how my Grandma used to make scalloped potatoes, minus the corn flakes. I think it was a popular dish in the 1950's. It's one of my favorite comfort foods too.
Posted by: Grace at September 28, 2006 7:58 AM
Yummmmmm....as my friend Paula would say, that picture gave me the squirts.
Posted by: Amy at September 28, 2006 8:00 AM
My mother used to make them, too. My oh my they were good! We have dish here in Utah called Funeral Potatoes that is similar and rather tasty, too. LOL
Posted by: margene at September 28, 2006 8:03 AM
Yum-my! Wonder how it would be with sweet potatoes. Gotta love that crust. Mmmmm.
Posted by: Kathy at September 28, 2006 8:14 AM
Just in time for the right season! Like, Vicki, we often have scalloped potatoes with ham. I'm liking this cooking down memory lane!
Posted by: Chris at September 28, 2006 8:35 AM
Those sound delicious. Your recipes are like my mother's, add it until it looks/tastes/feels right. I will have to try it and see if I can manage!
Posted by: Mindy at September 28, 2006 8:49 AM
Oh yeah! My mom makes them the same way - sprinkling the flour in there then just adding milk. I've recently started making them with pork chops on top - extra nummy!!
Posted by: Laura at September 28, 2006 9:14 AM
Gram used to make something similar. I love scalloped potatoes. Gotta try this soon.
Posted by: Monica at September 28, 2006 9:17 AM
Oh, they look SO GOOD. Too bad the only things in them I could eat are the potatoes and the salt & pepper.
Posted by: Chris at September 28, 2006 9:57 AM
Same here, minus the corn flakes. but I haven't had them in probably 15 or 20 years. I can't eat them now....potatoes, flour, milk, corn....verboten.
Posted by: Norma at September 28, 2006 10:35 AM
They look delish! :o)
Posted by: Jess at September 28, 2006 10:40 AM
Thanks! I find I avoid recipes involving white sauces, so maybe now I'll actually make scalloped potatoes that don't come out of a box. It's not that white sauces are hard, it's just another step, you know? Or as my friend S. said when she was learning to cook, she thought casseroles were supposed to be easy, but you have to cook everything before you bake the casserole, and what's easy about that?
Posted by: Martha at September 28, 2006 10:40 AM
I'm starting to realize that ALL my fav comfort food is from New England.. how funny. I love scalloped potatoes too - my Mom always added ham.
Posted by: Teyani at September 28, 2006 10:43 AM
That sounds delicious! You're really making me hungry while blog surfing lately!
Posted by: katie at September 28, 2006 10:48 AM
There you go again making me hungry! I had to make American Chop Suey after you posted your picture of that, and now I can see Scalloped potatoes in my future. This in doing nothing to help my diet, you know!
Posted by: Julie at September 28, 2006 10:49 AM
Mmmm . . . come to think of it, it's been about a year since we had scalloped potatoes . . . Yours is pretty much the way we make ours, too--sprinkle with flour, pour on milk, etc--although we usually don't add the onion. (I'd like it because I think potatoes and onions are made for each other, but too many onions bothers Mom's stomach.) But . . . hmmm . . .
Posted by: --Deb at September 28, 2006 11:03 AM
The closest I get to cooking is opening a box and putting it in the microwave. So when I see people actually "cooking" I am in awe. And potatoes? Yum, with cheese? Double yum. Leftover potatoes in the morning? Heaven!
Posted by: Sheryl at September 28, 2006 11:11 AM
Yum. I love scalloped potatoes and I hardly ever make them. This recipe sounds super easy. I'll have to try it.
Posted by: Stephanie at September 28, 2006 11:12 AM
Mmm, comfort food.
Posted by: Lucia at September 28, 2006 11:50 AM
Oh YUMMY! I definitely will try that. I have never actually attempted to make scalloped potatoes myself, though I do love to eat them. :-) The recipe seems very simple--that's exactly the way I like to cook, too. ("a little of this, a spoon of that, just toss some in and it will work out fine.")
Posted by: Beth S. at September 28, 2006 11:55 AM
OMG! Just kill me now!
There goes my low carb diet for the weekend!!
Posted by: Leah at September 28, 2006 12:19 PM
"...depending on how big they are..."
The people? ;^)
You keep making me hungry.
Posted by: Cookie at September 28, 2006 12:36 PM
They sound great Carole! I think I might have to cook them for my gang.
Posted by: amanda at September 28, 2006 12:57 PM
OK, now my DH is going to be wondering why he married me instead of beating Dale to marrying you! These are his faves, and whenever I make them, he is in heaven. I have made a beer-scalloped version too, if you want the recipe, let me know.
Posted by: Birdsong at September 28, 2006 1:04 PM
thank you for the reminder...my gram made them this way (sans cornflakes, sometimes sans onions) and so did my mom and aunt, so they're definitely comfort food for me...i think it's time for me to make a batch too :-) (btw that method works also for making a baked macaroni and cheese that is just wonderful)
Posted by: laurie at September 28, 2006 2:38 PM
I am so hungry right now, your picture is making me drool a bit. I haven't had scalloped potatoes in a loooong time. They are so gooooood.
Thanks for reminding me that I should make some. :)
Posted by: heather at September 28, 2006 3:58 PM
Mmm, I want some now! That's the same way my mom made them, too...I had actually forgotten this method! I'll have to make them soon.
Posted by: Leslie at September 28, 2006 6:25 PM
Yum! Another great "comfort food" recipe out of your kitchen. I've got to try those!
Posted by: Anne at September 28, 2006 7:49 PM
I hated them as a kid. My friend Brian--who lives in Paris--makes some amazing scalloped potatoes. I just want to lick the screen those look so good. ;)
Posted by: Kathleen at September 29, 2006 8:32 AM
Good thing I'm eating breakfast while reading this or you would be making me super hungry. My dad makes these, and I just had a craving and made them the other night! The only difference is, he crumbles saltine crackers with the butter instead of the flour. Now I know I can try it your way if we don't have crackers in the cabinet.
Posted by: Emily at September 29, 2006 11:44 AM
That's how my mom makes them, too, minus the corn flakes. When I make them, I can't resist adding cheese, because cheese is my life.
Posted by: Adrian at September 29, 2006 12:27 PM
Oh my.....that is one of my all time favorites!!!
Y.U.M.! I never heard of using cornflakes, but I am going to give it a try!
Posted by: Kim at September 29, 2006 6:22 PM
Oh, man, I can taste them now!!!!!!!!!!!! Promise that you'll make them the next time we get together.
Love ya,
Chrissie
Posted by: Chrissie at September 29, 2006 8:45 PM
Guess what I made for dinner last night with ham and cheese? Thanks for reminding me, Carole! Mr. HelloYarn thanks you, too.
Posted by: Adrian at September 30, 2006 8:58 AM
Try them next time with Carnation skim canned milk. It is a different taste that is oh so good!
Posted by: Jeanne at September 30, 2006 4:35 PM
My husband's family makes them the same way except without any butter - apparently that's what the American Heart Association's Healthy Heart cookbook has (his mom's is pretty old now). They spice it up with "Mr. Tony's" cajun spice blend instead of salt and pepper. And it IS really good, in spite of not having any cream....
Posted by: Blogless Kim at October 3, 2006 6:09 PM
I love these great recepies!!
I saw one from Amanda plaese if you read this,send me a recepie scallop patato with beer!!
I m not the best cook but i am lurning new recepies everry day!!
Posted by: Anne at November 1, 2006 6:43 PM












