Smoked Scalloped Potatoes
It’s the little things that really add up.
No more scalloped potatoes out of the box, thank you very much! This recipe is incredibly easy, and you can play with your flavours endlessly by changing out the spices or adding different herbs to your roux.
For this recipe, I’ve layered my smoked ingredients from top to bottom starting with the spices right to the meats —even the cheese has a touch of smoky goodness. Each flavour stacks up to make a dish that’s as big as it is delicious. —CFG
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups onion, thinly sliced
1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup smoked ham - OR - raw bacon , roughly diced into ~1/2” pieces
6 tbsp butter
6 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups milk
2 cups cream
2 1/2 pounds white potatoes (~5 large)
3/4 cup Old Cheddar, shredded
3/4 cup smoked Gouda, shredded
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400°F.
Shred 3/4 cup of Old Cheddar and 3/4 cup of smoked Gouda cheeses and set aside.
Peel 2 1/2 lbs of cleaned potatoes and slice them ⅛-inch thick. (I use my food processor to get them nearly paper-thin.) Rinse the excess starch off the potatoes and pat dry. Sprinkle 1/2 tsp salt on prepped potatoes and set aside.
In a skillet, cook 1 1/2 cups thinly sliced onion and 1 tbsp olive oil on medium-low heat. Stir regularly until onions are very soft but not browned. Next, add 1 cup smoked diced ham and mix thoroughly. Remove from heat and set aside.
OR
If you’re using raw bacon, omit the olive oil and cook the bacon, but do not crisp. Once the bacon is fully cooked, and the fats and juice have been released, add 1 1/2 cups of thinly sliced onions. Sauté the mixture on medium-low heat until the onions are very soft, but not browned. Remove from heat and set aside.
To make the roux, in a small bowl whisk together 6 tbsp of flour, 1 tsp of salt, 1 tsp of garlic powder, and 1.5 tsp smoked paprika until the mixture is fully mixed and smooth. Set aside.
In a large saucepan, melt 6 tbsp of butter on medium-low heat. Reduce heat to low. Whisk in the flour mixture until smooth, then whisk in 1 1/2cups of milk and 2 cups of cream. Bring the heat back up to medium-high and whisk constantly until the milk/cream is fully blended into the roux and thickened (it will gently bubble). Remove from heat.
Grease a 10”x10” gratin dish and place parchment paper into the pan. (This will reduce sticking in the pan for a scrub/soak-free clean up.)
Spread enough spoonfuls of the roux to cover the bottom of the dish. Cover it with half of your potato slices, being sure to overlap the slices.
Sprinkle half of the onion/ham mixture over the first potato layer, then follow with half of the roux and half of the shredded cheese mixture. Spread evenly over the potatoes.
Repeat this process again—potato layer, onion/ham mixture, roux, shredded cheese.
Sprinkle the top layer with 1/2 cup of panko bread crumbs.
Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake for ~25 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for ~ 40 minutes more, or until the top is golden and the potatoes are tender.
Serve and enjoy!
