Herbed Scalloped Potatoes

In my mind, I call this recipe Christmas Potatoes.

I only make them once a year (care to guess when?), for many reasons, prep time and caloric content being at the top of that list.

When I made them last month (did you guess that I made them on Christmas?  Good guess, you're right!), I thought to myself that I needed to make this recipe on a day when I had time to take pictures and blog about it.

There's a good amount of hands-on prep time involved (about 25 minutes) and then there's at least an hour of cook time (more if you prep and refrigerate in advance).  I promise you, however, that if you serve these potatoes as a side dish for a special occasion, you won't regret putting the time in!

They are really good.


Today's Playlist

• "Girl You Have No Faith In Medicine"...The White Stripes
• "Reptilia"...The Strokes
• "Mistress Mabel"...The Fratellis
• "About A Girl"...Nirvana
• "Interstate Love Song"...Stone Temple Pilots
• "Sixteen Saltines"...Jack White
• "Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)...The Offspring
• "Everlong"...Foo Fighters
• "Badfish"...Sublime
• "California Sun"...Ramones
• "Warning"...Green Day
• "Two Princes"...Spin Doctors

Herbed Scalloped Potatoes (8 servings)

Printable Recipe

• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 pounds potatoes, sliced 1/8" thick ( I like yellow potatoes, but any type is fine!)
• 1 large shallot, sliced 1/8" thick
• 2 1/2 cups shredded gruyere cheese
• 3 tablespoons shredded parmigiano reggiano cheese

Gather your ingredients.

I like yellow potatoes best, but I happened to have russets on hand.  Red, yellow, russet, white...they're all fine!

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Over medium heat, stir together the cream, garlic, rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper.    Stir occasionally, until it comes to a boil.  As soon as it starts to boil, remove from the heat and set aside.

Slice your potatoes and shallot to 1/8-inch thickness.

I used a mandolin slicer, but there have been times when I sliced them manually and imperfectly and they turn out just fine.

Start layering!  Butter a 2-quart shallow baking dish.  Put about 3 layers of potatoes into the dish, overlapping the edges of the potatoes.

Pour about 1/4 cup of the cream mixture onto the potatoes, and spread it around using a pastry brush.  Evenly scatter about half of the shallots on top of the potatoes, and sprinkle with about 3/4 cup of the shredded gruyere.

It was here that I finally realized that I had neglected to take step-by-step photos of the layering process!

Luckily, the whole layering process needs to be repeated, so I kept my focus and captured the individual steps during round two.

Place another 3 layers of the potatoes (with edges overlapping) into the dish.  Pour approximately 1/4 cup of the cream mixture over the potatoes.

Evenly spread the cream over the potatoes.

Sprinkle with the remaining shallots.

Evenly distribute another 3/4 cup of the gruyere.

Repeat one last time: layer the remaining potatoes, evenly pour all of the remaining cream mixture on top....

...and top with the remaining cup of shredded gruyere.  Sprinkle the top with the parmigiano cheese.

Cover with foil and bake in your preheated 375-degree oven for 40 minutes.  

After 40 minutes, remove the foil and continue to bake for another 20 to 25 minutes, until the potatoes are cooked and the cheese is bubbly, golden brown and crusty around the edges.

Yum!

Enjoy.