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Scalloped vs. Au Gratin Potatoes


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What's the difference between scalloped potatoes and au gratin potatoes? I thought the difference was that au gratin had cheese and scalloped did not. But every recipe I'm finding for scalloped potatoes has cheese in it. What gives? Do any of you have a recipe for scalloped potatoes that does not have cheese?

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That's supposed to be the difference...au gratin has cheese, scalloped just has a milk sauce.

Additionally, I have seen that au gratin refers to a crunchy coating on the top. Like...bread crumbs or something ??

 

Maybe all those people you're seeing recipes from don't know the difference either and consider them one and the same. :p

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That's supposed to be the difference...au gratin has cheese, scalloped just has a milk sauce.

Additionally, I have seen that au gratin refers to a crunchy coating on the top. Like...bread crumbs or something ??

 

Maybe all those people you're seeing recipes from don't know the difference either and consider them one and the same. :p

 

You might be right.

 

I'll keep looking. But if anyone here has a scalloped potato recipe that they wouldn't mind sharing, I would appreciate it.

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I haven't made scalloped potatoes in years.

 

My Mom never used a recipe, so I don't either.

 

Peel and slice your potatoes thin. Put a layer of them into a greased casserole dish. Sprinkle it with flour, salt, pepper and onions. Needs some butter in here too. Repeat several times. Pour milk over it. I am thinking 1 1/2 cups for a 9x13.

You could use one of your recipes for a guide to how much milk.

 

Bake for an hour until potatoes are done and brown and bubbly.

 

I rememember one time my Mom or I ( we both in the conversation) brought them to a Pot Luck at church. We had an out of town guest there who corrected us and said there was no such thing as scalloped potatoes. The word was Escalloped. And he was dead serious.

Edited by KatieinMich
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Peel and slice your potatoes thin. Put a layer of them into a greased casserole dish. Sprinkle it with flour, salt, pepper and onions. Repeat several times. Pour milk over it. I am thinking 1 1/2 cups for a 9x13.

You could use one of your recipes for a guide to how much milk.

 

Bake for an hour until potatoes are done and brown and bubbly.

 

This sounds about right. I use white pepper. Put in some ham for the best comfort food known to man. :)

 

ETA: I forgot to say that I dot it with some butter.

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I haven't made scalloped potatoes in years.

 

My Mom never used a recipe, so I don't either.

 

Peel and slice your potatoes thin. Put a layer of them into a greased casserole dish. Sprinkle it with flour, salt, pepper and onions. Repeat several times. Pour milk over it. I am thinking 1 1/2 cups for a 9x13.

You could use one of your recipes for a guide to how much milk.

 

Bake for an hour until potatoes are done and brown and bubbly.

 

I rememember one time my Mom or I ( we both in the conversation) brought them to a Pot Luck at church. We had an out of town guest there who corrected us and said there was no such thing as scalloped potatoes. The word was Escalloped. And he was dead serious.

 

This is how I make scalloped potatoes except I use butter in the layers and no onion.

 

I like to use canned milk or half cream/half whole milk. I pour the milk to the top of the potatoes (not covering them just even with the potato).

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The recipe I use is from my BH&G cookbook. I tried to find it online but the one they have there is different. This is from my cookbook:

 

1/4 cup chopped onion

2 T. butter

2 T. flour

1/1/4 cups milk

3 medium potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced (3 cups)

 

For sauce, cook onion in butter until tender. Stir in flour, 1/2 tsp. salt, and 1/8 tsp. pepper. Add milk all at once. Cook and stri till thickened and bubbly. Remove from heat. Place half the sliced potatoes in a greased 1-quart casserole. Cover with half the sauce. Repeat layers.

 

Bake, covered in a 350 degree oven for 35 minutes. Uncover; bake 30 minutes more until ptatoes are tender. Let stand 5 minutes serves 4.

 

I usually double the sauce because otherwise it looks dry. It might be because I never measure the potatoes so 3 medium in my mind might be different from theirs.

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This is how I make scalloped potatoes except I use butter in the layers and no onion.

 

I like to use canned milk or half cream/half whole milk. I pour the milk to the top of the potatoes (not covering them just even with the potato).

 

 

You are correct, it needs butter. I will change my post.

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You might be right.

 

I'll keep looking. But if anyone here has a scalloped potato recipe that they wouldn't mind sharing, I would appreciate it.

 

Scalloped potatoes are really easy. The only tricky part is getting the potato slices really thin and regular. This is where a French mandolin or inexpensive Japanese vegetable slicer really helps.

 

Then all you need to do is layer the potato slices in a greased baking dish (butter or olive oil). Season with a little salt as you build the layers. You can add a little butter (or olive oil) between later if you want it more decadent (but it really is not necessary). If you desire thin slices of garlic between layers roast up and get sweet when baked (but is optional).

 

Then add milk until it just hits the top of the potatoes and bake. As the potatoes cook the milk will reduce and make a smooth-creamy sauce. DO PUT A SHEET OF FOIL under the baking dish, as the milk does have a tendency to boil over and it is a pain to clean off an oven floor.

 

What I'd urge you not to add is "flour." If you add flour you will get the gummy-blubbery-gravy texture that mars so much of Southern Cooking and Cream of Cr*p Soups. Potatoes have plenty of starch. There is no reason to add more. Milk alone will give you a much more refined result.

 

Bill

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Scalloped potatoes are really easy. The only tricky part is getting the potato slices really thin and regular. This is where a French mandolin or inexpensive Japanese vegetable slicer really helps....

 

What I'd urge you not to add is "flour."

Really? Hmm. I am with you on the thin potato thing. By the way, I found this cheap slicer thing for about $6 a few years ago at an Ace Hardware, called Feemster's Famous Vegetable Slicer. I don't use them much so I was okay about spending the money on a much cheaper one. It's fairly small, so a potato-sized item would work.

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I think I do it a different way every time. Sometimes I slice the potatoes with the cuisinart to make them really thin. It still takes a while to bake. The quickest way is to precook whole potatoes until they're cooked but still a bit firm in the middle. Then, you can have thicker potatoe slices without waiting ages for it to cook. I usually just use the same cheese sauce I put in my Mac n cheese, but if I don't go with milk, flour and cheese I use cream and butter. Where's the bad?

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Really? Hmm. I am with you on the thin potato thing. By the way, I found this cheap slicer thing for about $6 a few years ago at an Ace Hardware, called Feemster's Famous Vegetable Slicer. I don't use them much so I was okay about spending the money on a much cheaper one. It's fairly small, so a potato-sized item would work.

 

:iagree:

 

Potatoes usually work really well with cheap slicers. No need to break the bank. But it is almost impossible to cut the thin regular slices that make scalloped potatoes so good by hand.

 

As to the flour, without it you don't get that yucky "white sauce" consistency one associates with Southern style "gravy." Blech. It is much better with out it. Potatoes have plenty of starch on their own. There is no need to add more (unless you find warm blubber appealing :tongue_smilie:).

 

Bill

Edited by Spy Car
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I've had to increase this recipe for our family. Love it.

 

Scalloped Potatoes

 

4 Tbsp. butter

4 Tbsp. flour

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. pepper

2 cups milk

 

6 medium potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced

1 onion, chopped or sliced

 

Prepare white sauce.

Layer half the potatoes and onions in greased casserole dish. Pour half the sauce over. Layer remaining potatoes and onions. Cover with remaining sauce. Bake covered at 350 for 50 minutes. Remove cover and bake additional 15 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.

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:iagree:

 

Potatoes usually work really well with cheap slicers. No need to break the bank. But it is almost impossible to cut the thin regular slices that make scalloped potatoes so good by hand.

Yeah, I quit making them when I was preboiling the potatoes (because my slices were staying raw), sauteeing onions to add in, and then the dish took forever and I had too many dirty pans. So I like the idea of a one pot thing. That Feemster's slicer is definitely low-tech; it's like a blade on two legs that look like they could be old hangers, but it does work. Plus I feel really danger-defying when I use it. I have a major phobia of chopping devices. Anyway I might just make them one of these days!

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Yeah, I quit making them when I was preboiling the potatoes (because my slices were staying raw), sauteeing onions to add in, and then the dish took forever and I had too many dirty pans. So I like the idea of a one pot thing. That Feemster's slicer is definitely low-tech; it's like a blade on two legs that look like they could be old hangers, but it does work. Plus I feel really danger-defying when I use it. I have a major phobia of chopping devices. Anyway I might just make them one of these days!

 

I do mine in a big skillet that can go in the oven. One dish. (Well, and the cutting board and knife for the onions, and mandolin for the spuds) And the simmering makes them go super fast.

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If you "pre-boil" the potatoes then the dish won't cook long enough to reduce the milk, which is what gives scalloped potatoes their delicious quality IMO.

 

One can add "flour" to thicken the milk (as opposed to a "reduction") but then you get the pasty-gluey "white sauce" consistency (which is really gross) rather than the milk reduction, which is delicious.

 

There is no comparison in the refinement of the dish when done right. One man's opinion.

 

Bill

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If you "pre-boil" the potatoes then the dish won't cook long enough to reduce the milk, which is what gives scalloped potatoes their delicious quality IMO.

 

One can add "flour" to thicken the milk (as opposed to a "reduction") but then you get the pasty-gluey "white sauce" consistency (which is really gross) rather than the milk reduction, which is delicious.

 

There is no comparison in the refinement of the dish when done right. One man's opinion.

 

Bill

 

I do that in a sense. I use a recipe from Cooks ILlustrated. It calls for cream and broth. I slice the potatoes in the FB, then simmer them in the liquid (which is infused with garlic/herbs) just until a knife slips in without slicing them apart. Then when you bake it it only takes about 20-25 minutes to finish cooking and get the browned top.

 

I haven't read all the replies but I never think of a gratin as needing cheese. I hate those gloppy goopy cheese potatoes that have ten pounds of cheese.

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I do that in a sense. I use a recipe from Cooks ILlustrated. It calls for cream and broth. I slice the potatoes in the FB, then simmer them in the liquid (which is infused with garlic/herbs) just until a knife slips in without slicing them apart. Then when you bake it it only takes about 20-25 minutes to finish cooking and get the browned top.

 

I haven't read all the replies but I never think of a gratin as needing cheese. I hate those gloppy goopy cheese potatoes that have ten pounds of cheese.

 

But 25 minutes is not enough time for milk to reduce and become "creamy." Now if one subsitutes "cream" for milk it takes care of some of the creaminess problem, but the fat content spikes way up. Baking the potatoes with "milk" cuts out a step (pre-boiling) and cuts out a considerable amount the fat, while still being delicious.

 

And ultimately, I think you have a time savings—as while it takes a longer oven time—it is "passive time" where the dish does not have to be attended vs the pre-boiling that does require attention and messes more pots.

 

When there are options that are healthier, easier, and more delicious, I'll take 'em.

 

Bill

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But 25 minutes is not enough time for milk to reduce and become "creamy." Now if one subsitutes "cream" for milk it takes care of some of the creaminess problem, but the fat content spikes way up. Baking the potatoes with "milk" cuts out a step (pre-boiling) and cuts out a considerable amount the fat, while still being delicious.

 

And ultimately, I think you have a time savings—as while it takes a longer oven time—it is "passive time" where the dish does not have to be attended vs the pre-boiling that does require attention and messes more pots.

 

When there are options that are healthier, easier, and more delicious, I'll take 'em.

 

Bill

 

NOt if you use a little cream and broth. I do it this way when I don't have the oven free for over an hour. They are essentially cooking on the stovetop most of the way so they absorb the liquid and are mostly tender. But they are no less delicious than the other way I make them.

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NOt if you use a little cream and broth. I do it this way when I don't have the oven free for over an hour. They are essentially cooking on the stovetop most of the way so they absorb the liquid and are mostly tender. But they are no less delicious than the other way I make them.

 

If one adds enough fat to potatoes it will flip a switch in the brain to "like" no matter how you slice it. But scalloped potatoes cooked in milk are creamy and highly delicious without spiking the fat levels. That is a big difference. The texture of thinly sliced potatoes cooked in milk is very special and is something that can not be reproduced by the CI method. I don't doubt the CI method tastes good—pour cream on potatoes and it is hard to miss—but it isn't scalloped potatoes in my book.

 

Bill (traditionalist :D)

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I'm going to make non traditional potatoes in bacon fat next time.

 

Because you know, fat is what is wrong with food.

 

Yes, more fat is what most Americans need most in their diets :tongue_smilie:

 

Bill

Edited by Spy Car
Autocorrect killed a cat
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The sprinkling of flour does not resemble cream of _____ soup. Nor does it turn into a gummy mess fwiw. Its just a light dusting between layers. Approx 2 -3 T per 9 x 13 pan.

 

Flour plus liquid makes "paste." A simple experiment at home will prove this. With no leavening or other mechanism to act on the flour one is left with "glue." Potatoes are not lacking in starch. There is no reason to add more unless one likes the texture of white sauce, but I find it unpalatable.

 

Thinly sliced potatoes cooked in milk (sans flour) have a more delicate taste IMO.

 

Bill

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Flour plus liquid makes "paste."

 

I realize a switch is flipped in your brain whenever bechamel sauce, circumcision, or Miquon are mentioned (hopefully not all at once), but I have put flour in apple pie and it doesn't make what I would call a paste. ;)

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I realize a switch is flipped in your brain whenever bechamel sauce, circumcision, or Miquon are mentioned (hopefully not all at once), but I have put flour in apple pie and it doesn't make what I would call a paste. ;)

 

Using French names does not make "paste" taste any better :D

 

Bill

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No, Bill <3s circumcision. Or, as we say in French, "la circoncision."

 

I'm not so sure the name of procedure sounds so good in either language. Marketing error.

 

<3s is an exaggeration. I think the benefits outweigh the risks if you have a highly competent physician who will perform the procedure in a humane way with the benefit of topical and local anesthesia. But probably the wrong thread to continue this rabbit-hole.

 

Bill

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Now, having to be GF, I may just give Bill's idea a go. Worst thing that happens is that I get soupy taters. :tongue_smilie:

 

Just be sure to put a foil dam under the baking disk to catch any milk that may boil over. A shallow dish combined with full amount of milk can cause spill-over that is not fun to clean.

 

Keep an eye on the top. Depending on the oven temp you may need to tent the top it foil to keep it from over-browning (especially in a toaster oven, which is well suited to the job).

 

Key is really thin and regular slices (so it all cooks at the same rate).

 

Same thing works if you want to add cheese.

 

Bill

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Going back to potatoes...Interesting. I've only made them w/either flour or cream o'crud soup.

 

Now, having to be GF, I may just give Bill's idea a go. Worst thing that happens is that I get soupy taters. :tongue_smilie:

 

OAMM has a GF Cream of Whatever soup recipe. You can make it ahad and freeze it.

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Just be sure to put a foil dam under the baking disk to catch any milk that may boil over. A shallow dish combined with full amount of milk can cause spill-over that is not fun to clean.

 

Keep an eye on the top. Depending on the oven temp you may need to tent the top it foil to keep it from over-browning (especially in a toaster oven, which is well suited to the job).

 

Key is really thin and regular slices (so it all cooks at the same rate).

 

Same thing works if you want to add cheese.

 

Bill

Thinking the slicer on my food processor should do it.

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Going back to potatoes...Interesting. I've only made them w/either flour or cream o'crud soup.

 

Now, having to be GF, I may just give Bill's idea a go. Worst thing that happens is that I get soupy taters. :tongue_smilie:

 

Soupy taters would sound much better if you'd call them vichyssoise! ;)

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