Although I love holiday sweets, I figured it was time to post something sans sugar. I know it might seem unlikely, but we actually do eat more than chocolate and peanut butter between Thanksgiving and New Year and to prove it I decided to post something savory.

My husband and I love potatoes, our daughters not so much. We always tease them that this is unnatural given our Irish heritage, but the point seems somehow lost as they look blankly at their plates, pondering why we make them eat this mushy root vegetable.

Lucky for me (or them, depending on the way you look at it) there are a couple ways they’ll eat potatoes without argument: fries and scalloped potatoes, aka “cheesy potatoes” at our house.

Basically scalloped potatoes involve thinly sliced potatoes, cream, and cheese; baked to a bubbling, browned casserole of potato goodness. However, there are many different versions of this classic dish, most involving the dreaded cream of something soup (sorry, I really hate the stuff), weird cheeses, or flour.

This version, adapted from an American Test Kitchen recipe, is really simple and tastes divine, and not a can to be opened. You partially cook the potatoes on the stove top, greatly reducing the cooking time in the oven. Effectively making scalloped potatoes a reasonable dish to get to the table (1 1/2-2 hours in the oven is not really my cup of tea for a side dish).

It really helps to get the potatoes thin and uniformly sliced, so unless you have amazing knife skills (unlike me), it really helps to use a food processor of Kitchen Aid fitted with the slicing blade. A mandoline would also work, but I am too chicken to own one, for fear use would result in a trip to the emergency room.

Scalloped Potatoes may not be the prettiest thing at the table, but they are delicious and comforting on a cold, winter day. And they pair especially well with ham or pork chops.

Scalloped Potatoes- bubbling cheesy goodness!

Scalloped Potatoes

You could replace all or half the cheddar with another cheese, like Parmesan if desired.

• 2 TB butter
• 1 small onion, chopped fine
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 2 1/2 pounds russet potatoes (about 5), peeled & sliced 1/8 inch thick
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1. Preheat oven to 425.
2. In a large saucepan, over medium heat, melt butter. Add onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in thyme, garlic, salt and pepper and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the potatoes, broth, cream, and bay leaves and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat, cover and cook 10 minutes or until potatoes are almost tender, stirring occasionally.
3. Remove bay leaves and discard. Transfer the mixture to and 8-inch square baking dish (or a similarly sized casserole dish) and gently spread potatoes into an even layer.
4. Sprinkle with cheddar cheese and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until cream is bubbling and the top is golden. Allow to cool 5-10 minutes before serving.

Holidays & Special Occasions, Sides gluten free scalloped potatoes, scalloped potatoes without soup

As much as I love scalloped potatoes, with all of fattening cream, butter and gooey cheese, sometimes a lighter, healthier version is nice too.

Martha Stewart has a Lemon and Thyme Potato Gratin in her Comfort Foods cookbook. It isn’t nearly as rich and heavy as tradition potato gratin dishes, but it is still very good and very flavorful.

I am especially impressed that this cooks up nicely in under an hour; if you are familiar with these types of dishes you probably are aware that many require 1.5 hours or more in the oven, making them quite impractical for the busy home cook.

I use my slicing attachment on the food processor to make the potato slices even, not to mention it gets the job done very quickly. If you don’t own a food processor of mandolin, use a sharp knife, and do cut the potatoes into very thin slices or it will be in the oven a very long time.

You are supposed to arrange the top layer of potatoes neatly. I am guessing that is Martha speak for beautiful and worthy or company. I, however, just threw the potatoes in the dish. I believe cooking is an art, but your food doesn’t need to look like it. Feel free to be more elaborate with your potato designs, I am sure Martha would be proud. And although you are supposed to use Yukon gold potatoes, I just used regular old Russet potatoes. Again, not sure Martha would really approve, but it works.

Hot Lemon and Thyme Potato Gratin

Lemon and Thyme Potato Gratin

• 2 Tb butter, plus more to butter pan
• 2 lbs Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and sliced very thinly
• 2 tsp chopped fresh thyme
• zest of one lemon (about 2 tsp)
• salt and pepper for seasoning
• 1 cup milk

1. Heat oven to 400 with oven rack in center position. Place a baking sheet below to catch any drips.
2. Brush a casserole dish with butter and add 1/3 of the potato slices. Sprinkle with thyme and lemon and season with salt and pepper. Dot with butter.
3. Add a second layer of potatoes and season. Dot with butter.
4. Add remaining potatoes. Pour milk over potatoes. Sprinkle with remaining lemon and thyme and season with salt and pepper. Dot with remaining butter. Cover with foil or oven-proof lid and bake for 40 minutes.
5. Remove cover and bake 10-20 minutes more, or until the top is golden and the potatoes are tender when pierced with a knife. If potatoes do not have the desired browness, you can place under broiler for several minutes.
6. Serve gratin hot.

Sides gluten free scalloped potatoes