Thursday, March 4, 2010

Scalloped Potato Perfection







Well no doubt you have many recipes for scalloped potatoes which all seem so simple and the result should be so delectable. But that never seems to happen.



The number one problem with scalloped potatoes is they are undercooked.
The number two problem, they are watery
The number three problem, they are tasteless.
Well-that's quite a resume for a simple little recipe! So let's tackle these one by one.

The Number One complaint about scalloped potatoes? Undercooked.
Most recipes will tell you to take raw sliced potatoes and put then in a casserole dish with your cheese sauce and bake for an hour. That will always lead to hard potatoes. So what to do.... what to do. Well, the obvious answer is bake them longer. However since you have a cheese sauce on them you have to be careful not to over cook them in the oven.

So here's a quick trick. Put your potato slices in the milk you heat up for the Bechamel and let them cook a little in the milk before pouring the milk into the Roux. Then, when you are through making the Bechamel, return it to the sliced potatoes and let them cook a bit more on low heat with the onion in the sauce as well.

When you bake them, make sure they are covered for an hour. Then remove the cover and continue to bake them for about another 1/2 hour. So 90 minutes in all.

Number two complaint: Watery.
Now this one is a little bit of science and a little bit of self control.
When you are making scalloped potatoes, the tendency is to want to get the potatoes peeled and sliced and then soak them in water till you are ready to use them. This feels efficient because you have completed a task which seems benign in its early completion. However this is your first mistake (well maybe reading this blog is your first mistake-but we'll save that for later).

Potatoes have a lot of starch in them and when you soak them you are releasing this starch into the soaking water. Then, when you cook them, there is not enough starch left to thicken the sauce. You will get watery potatoes.

The lesson here is to soak them in the milk you are going to be using. this will allow the starch to release into the same liquid you will be using in the sauce so you won't lose any of that coagulating starch.

The second mistake is not choosing a starchy potato. Each potato has a different level of starch. Baking potatoes are very high in starch. But they lack the ability to absorb flavor very well. So they will cook up well-but won't be all that flavorful.

Red potatoes have almost no starch so would be very watery. They do absorb a lot of flavor though, and this is why they are a good choice for potato salad-but not scalloped potatoes.

Yukon Gold potatoes are fairly starchy and also absorb lots of flavor. They are the best choice for Scalloped Potatoes.

Number Three biggest complaint: They taste dull and flavorless.
This can be the result of several things. First, choosing the wrong potato-a baking potato will not absorb flavor so will be flat. The sauce may be good-but it can't compensate for a flat potato.

Then there is the issue of the sauce. Many recipes have you add milk and that's it. No Roux, no Bechamel. Maybe a little flour-but no Roux. Well that is a double Yuck. First you get no flavor from just the milk, and then you compound the problem by adding flour and not cooking it. Now you have flat flavor with floury after tastes. Now that is what I call Yummy. NOT!
And one of the number one reasons why the potatoes taste flat? You didn't salt the potatoes before cooking. An unsalted potato will suck salt from the sauce and render everything tasteless. Remember-salt is a flavor enhancer-even in nature. So no salt equals no flavor when it comes to a potato (pasta also-but that is another lesson).

So when you peel the potatoes, before you put them in the milk, salt them WELL. Potatoes take a lot of salt. Trust me on this one.

Assuming you have chosen the right potato, go back a few posts and see what I said about making a Roux, then Bechamel. Make the Bechamel and come back here after that.
Assuming you have made a Bechamel, salted your potatoes and soaked them in the milk you were using to make the sauce, and you have them simmering in the finished Bechamel-we can move on.

For a little extra zing, take two peeled garlic gloves and roughly chop them. Add them to the simmering potatoes.

Now prepare your casserole dish. I butter it all over so the crusty edges are even yummier. This will make the potatoes come out of the pan more easily and clean up will be less tedious.

Add some cheese to the simmering milk. My favorite is a combination of Jarlsberg and Gruyere. Just mix in about a cup or more of cheese. Then pour that into your casserole dish. Add more cheese on top till the top is covered with cheese.

If you have a casserole dish with a cover use that-otherwise wrap it tightly in foil and place in a 375 degree oven for an hour. After an hour, remove the foil and continue to cook for another 1/2 hour.

Voila! The perfect Scalloped potato! Um. I could eat some right now. Oh-I think I will-I have some in the freezer. did I mention they freeze well? :).

6 comments:

  1. Hi Judy,

    Wonderful advice. I consider myself an advanced cook, but have often run into scalloped potato challenges. When you say to peel the potatoes, then salt them - I assume you mean to peel, slice and then salt?

    Thanks for a great post.

    Gail

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  2. Thank you. Finally some practical advice that addresses my biggest concerns.

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  3. This brought back a totally red-face memory. My first 'company' dinner as a newlywed included scalloped potatoes and I followed a recipe to the letter (something I soon quit doing). They looked and smelled won-der-ful; however, they were about half cooked. I was mortified but my friends were very gracious and commented on how great the flavor was. :-/

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  4. I totally learned a lot from this post. Thank you now I'm ready for some this Christmas.

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  5. Thank You for your advice, I've have made many Scalloped Potatoes over the Years but the last couple of times I've made them the dish is full of Water ! Nailed It ( Cheap potatoes ) Never Again will stick to Yukon Potatoes Happy Easter

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