Based on the French classic gratin dauphinois, creamed–aka scalloped–potatoes are a classic dish to serve alongside roasts of any stripe. My favorite is with lamb.  The French method is basically to cook the potatoes in milk and/or cream and layered into a buttered gratin dish that’s rubbed with a cut clove of garlic.  The potatoes and most of the milk mixture are spooned into the gratin with a generous amount of salt, pepper and a trace of nutmeg.  It’s then coated with  Gruyere or Emmenthaler and baked until the potatoes are soft and the top has browned nicely. For this method I cut the potatoes 1/2- to 3/4-inch thick.

Scalloped potatoes

The American version is simply scalloped potatoes.  Here they’re sliced fairly thin and layered into an enameled cast-iron gratin dish or better yet into a cast-iron pan—or any other vehicle that can be put on the stove top before baking.  When the dish is done it tastes as if it’s loaded with cheese but it’s not.   The milk and cream absorb the starch from the potatoes and the whole thickens up beautifully.  The potatoes should be cut fairly thin, though not paper thin as a mandolin would cut.  I use the food processor slicing blade, preferably one that can be adjusted to cut the potatoes somewhat thinner than the standard slicing blade, or a bit less than 1/4-inch thick.

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