2021 was all about memories of traveling throughout Asia and recreating the food I ate then. It was nice, but in 2022 I’m determined to return to basics, the heart and soul of this blog: Butter. My first dish, scalloped potatoes, is a shining star in that arena, and you guessed it, the shine comes from butter.
Disclaimer: I don’t know if this is a true representation of scalloped potatoes or not. I have no idea what the authentic version is supposed to be like and the internet offers no concrete consensus on the subject. People can’t even agree on whether it’s a French or Irish dish. Either way, I didn’t use a recipe for this, and it’s completely made up, so I’ll call it whatever I want.
This dish surprised me for a few reasons. The first is how quickly the prep went. I didn’t use a mandolin (though of course you can if you want) because I wanted the potato slices to remain upright, but still I was finished all the prep before my oven even finished preheating. That is not a nod to my speed. I was shocked at how quickly the prep went. The second surprise was how long it took for the potatoes to cook. After only spending about 10 minutes slicing and arranging the potatoes in the pan, I then had to wait nearly four hours for them to cook. If you’re making this at home and begin to wonder if the potatoes will ever fully cook through, just have patience. - they will get there, and they will not burn because they will be covered with foil after the first 40 minutes. The third and final surprise was how much the flavors of the herbs and garlic permeated the potatoes. Obviously they mainly tasted like butter, which is exactly what I want, but the aromatics really did enhance that experience. You can use any herbs you want, but I really enjoy rosemary with potatoes so that’s the direction I chose to go in. All in all, this was a very easy and satisfying meal, and it completely delivers on taste and comfort. If you’re working from home, it’s the perfect thing to start when you wake up and have ready in time for lunch.
Butter Count: 8 Tbsp
INGREDIENTS:
8-9 yukon gold potatoes
1 stick (8 Tbsp) butter, melted
2 sprigs fresh rosemary, minced
6 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp salt
Parmesan for grating
Juice from 1/2 lemon
INSTRUCTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 400F.
Arrange the potatoes in an oven-safe pan in the approximate configuration you want them to be in when sliced.
One at a time, transfer a potato to a cutting board and slice it thinly, keeping it upright the whole time, keeping your thumb on one side of the potato and your fingers on the other, so that the slices don’t fall over as you slice. Place the sliced potato back into the pan in the position it had originally been in. Press down gently on the slices so that they fan out a little and fill any large gaps in the pan. Repeat with all of the potatoes.
NOTE: I like to hold each end of the potato by making my hand into a kind of arch with my thumb on the left end and my other fingers on the right end, and then I make sure my knife is underneath the arch my hand is making as I slice.
Pour the butter over the potatoes evenly. It will pool at the bottom, but that’s ok. Don’t worry about separating the layers or anything in an attempt to get the butter inside them - it will soak up into them while the potatoes bake.
Sprinkle the garlic, rosemary, and salt over the top of the potatoes. Grate however much parmesan you like over the top.
Bake uncovered about 40 minutes, or until the top is brown to your liking. Cover with foil and continue baking until fully cooked, about 3 hours.
Squeeze the lemon juice over the top and serve.