Goomba wrote:
> Melba's Jammin' wrote:
>
>> Make a basic white sauce - 2 tablespoons each butter and flour,
>> cooked; whisk in 1-1/4 cups milk, some salt and pepper, and cook over
>> medium-high heat until thickened. Peel and slice 3 potatoes 1/4"
>> thick and thinly slice half a small onion, then in a one-quart
>> buttered baking dish, put about 1/4 cup of the white sauce, half the
>> potatoes, all the onions, half the remaining white sauce. Add the
>> remaining potatoes and pour the remaining white sauce on top. Bake
>> for an hour at 325.
>
> This is how my mother made them but in larger quantities than you list
> (white sauce, multiple seasoned layers of potatoes and sauce). My
> favorite part were the browned crusty edges on the casserole dish. I
> think I shall have to make some tonight. Mom would sometimes add
> small bits of diced ham too. Veddy good. Wonderful stuff.

I have one pan that does a better job than any other at making the bottom
and sides golden brown, sweet and a little crusty. Yes, on the bits of ham
or cheese, but no onion. The onion flavor is just too raw and strong for
this dish. Plain is best, although you can plop a couple of browned pork
chops/steaks on top to cook. A smidge garlic powder in the flour mix is
nice -- not so much that you can really taste it. I do butter the pan first
and I make an effort to smoosh the sauce all through the potatoes. I hate
running into a couple slices of potatoes that have stuck together without
sauce ;o{
Janet

sf wrote:
> On Sat, 3 Jan 2009 22:23:59 -0700, "Dale P" > wrote:
>
>> "sandi" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>> Becca > wrote in
>>> :
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> My mother would slice her potatoes, put them in the pan, dot
>>>> them with butter, add milk and a tablespoon or two of flour,
>>>> season them, cover and bake. They always come out perfect.
>>>>
>>>> Becca
>>>>
>>>
>>> Mom did the same but added a bit of onion and at the end topped
>>> with cheddar cheese.
>>
>>
>> I tried it that way some years ago, and the milk curdled. It tasted
>> okay, but was not attractive. I have gone back to cooking the sauce
>> prior to putting in the oven.
>>
>
> I dunno what happened. Try whole milk and lower heat next time.
I agree. It sounds as though skim or 2% milk was used and the sauce broke.
And, as you said, you can cook at too high a heat and break a sauce as well.
Janet

On Sat, 03 Jan 2009 17:53:01 -0700, Gloria P wrote:

> When I was about 12 I used a recipe from my mother's cookbook to make
> scallopped potatoes thusly:
>
> Butter a baking dish lightly.
> Lay thinly sliced potatoes, slightly overlapping.
> Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and flour.
> Add a layer of thinly sliced onions, separated into rings
> Dot with butter
>
> Repeat until all the potato slices are used.
> Sprinkle freshly grated cheese over the top if desired.
> Pour milk down the edge f the dish until you can just see it below the
> top layer of potatoes.
>
> Bake until the potatoes are tender.
>
> It turned out well enough that I made the same recipe for years.
>
> gloria p

this sounds a lot like the *joy of cooking* version, minced onion instead
of rings, each layer dotted with butter and some paprika in the milk. it's
good. i haven't made it in a while.

your pal,
blake

On Sat, 03 Jan 2009 11:53:57 -0800, Dan Abel wrote:

> In article >,
> sf > wrote:
>
>> On Sat, 3 Jan 2009 10:16:06 -0800 (PST), aem >
>> wrote:
>>
>>>This one works. It's given on cans of Carnation evaporated milk but
>>>don't hold that against it. It's certainly better than one with
>>>canned soup.....
>>
>> Doesn't anyone use plain ole milk anymore?
>
> Whole, 2%, 1% or skim? With lactaid or not? Organic or not?
> Homogenized or not? Pasteurized or not? From contented cows or ones
> worried about who is next for the slaughterhouse?

i'm a city boy. down at the Legitimate Businessman's Social Club, we use
rat milk.

your pal,
fat tony

Blinky the Shark > wrote in
news
> sandi wrote:

>> Mom did the same but added a bit of onion and at the end
>> topped with cheddar cheese.
>
> The recipe I used to use - haven't made any in years if not
> decades - used layers of sliced potatoes alternating with thin
> layers of onion and green pepper and bacon (some of all three
> in each non-tater layer). Probably five layers all told.
> Mmmmmmm...bacon! I may have added the bacon to the original
> recipe.

Bacon or ham sounds wonderful!

In article >,
Goomba > wrote:

(Barb's scalloped potatoes particulars deleted)
>
> This is how my mother made them but in larger quantities than you list
> (white sauce, multiple seasoned layers of potatoes and sauce). My
> favorite part were the browned crusty edges on the casserole dish. I
> think I shall have to make some tonight. Mom would sometimes add small
> bits of diced ham too. Veddy good. Wonderful stuff.

Yes; I used only 3 spuds because she said there were only two of them.
:-) And I forgot to mention the ham bits ‹ those went into the
scalloped potatoes a few days after the initial ham meal. :-)

I like the sauce on the thin side; the potato starch will thicken it a
bit more ‹ and I just like saucy potatoes, not a cohesive glop.
--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
<http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/amytaylor>
December 27, 2008, 7:30 a.m.: "I have fixed my roof,
I have mended my fences; now let the winter winds blow."

On Sat, 03 Jan 2009 23:16:43 -0800, sf > wrote:

>On Sat, 03 Jan 2009 23:10:41 -0600, Damsel in dis Dress
> wrote:
>
>>On Sun, 04 Jan 2009 00:05:21 -0500, Kajikit >
>>wrote:
>>
>>>If
>>>I don't want to make a white sauce for my scalloped potatoes they work
>>>out nicely if you whisk together milk and enough sour cream to make it
>>>look kind of like buttermilk (about half and half).
>>
>>Now, THAT sounds good! I am one-third of a family of major sour cream
>>lovers. This is our next batch of scalloped potatoes. Dayam!
>>
>I've never thought about that combo, but yes it does sound good. The
>big advantage is you can use low fat milk and no fat sour cream, which
>is even better for people who need or want to watch their fat intake.

Yep! I use the Daisy low-fat sour cream and 1% milk and it works out
just fine...

tintalle wrote:

>
> Anyone have a tried and true "from scratch" recipe to share, or some
> guidance on the proportions of cream/milk/flour to use?


This is the ratio I use:
1 Tbs butter, 1 Tbs flour, 1 cup milk, 1 cup cheese.