These are probably the ultimate scalloped potatoes / au gratin / dauphinoise I've ever made. They're the best version of this recipe I've seen online. I went through an excruciating process of fixing my lactose intolerance, and these potatoes were the reward.
Prep Time | Cook Time | Serves |
45 minutes | 1:45 hours | 6 people |
Scalloped Potatoes
2 yellow onions
A little less than 2 lbs yukon gold potato
1 pint heavy cream
Thyme, bay, peppercorn
Salt, pepper
Melted butter
Step 1: Caramelized Onions
Remove the paper from your onions and thinly slice them from pole to pole. Do this by cutting them in half then make slices as shown in the video. Add these to a hot pan with a little cooking oil and season them with salt. Add about one fourth cup of water to the pan and cover it. This will allow the onions to cook much quicker. Simmer this for 10 minutes. Remove the lid and lower the heat to a medium. Cook and continue mixing until they've reached a deep golden color. This takes at least 30 minutes. Remove them from the pan and let them cool.
Step 2: Make the Seasoned Cream
To a small saucepan, add the heavy cream, a few sprigs of thyme, salt, 1 tsp of peppercorns, and a bay leaf. Bring this to a simmer and then cut off the heat. Let this steep while you slice the potatoes.
Step 3: Thinly Slice Potatoes
Scrub the potatoes in cool water until clean. Use a mandolin to slice the potatoes to the thickness of 2 credit cards stacked together. Work through all the potatoes until they're sliced.
Step 4: Building and Baking
Set your oven to 250f with a rack in the center. Brush melted butter into a cast iron and begin laying in potatoes. Make a ring of overlapping potato slices around the outside, the around the inside. You can add on some caramelized onions on top of the potatoes. This is going to be pretty sparse in the beginning, but it will fill in with more as you build the layers. Next is going to be some fresh thyme, then cracked pepper. Add a little melted butter. Next hit it with a little cream and another layer of potato. You’re going to continue this process of potato, onions, thyme, pepper, butter, cream until you get through almost all of the potatoes. This potato layer cake can get a lid, and then plop it in the oven for an hour.
This first hour is all about cooking the interior of the potatoes nice and gently. Once that hour is up, you can remove the pan from the oven and turn the heat up to 350f. Remove the lid and place this in the oven for 30-45 minutes. Remove this from the oven when nicely browned. Give these a while to cool, they are going to be molten hot for like at least 15 minutes. It’s worth waiting for, trust me. The butter around the edges really caramelizes and the cream has softened the potatoes. It’s like a combination of mashed potatoes, mac and cheese and dauphinoise potatoes all in one. In my mind, this is pretty much the perfect potato dish.
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