Scalloped Potatoes

I have a thing for scalloped potatoes. I'm not sure why I don't make them more often. I tend to only serve them when I serve ham and baked beans. Which is very stingy of me, because scalloped potatoes are not a one-meal wonder.

I put ketchup on my scalloped potatoes. Is that weird? Don't tell me if it is because I don't care. I've always, as long as I can remember, put ketchup on my scalloped potatoes. When I was little my mum always made her scalloped potatoes in a blue and white round Corning ware bowl. They seemed to take forever to cook. We would watch the entire 'Wonderful World of Disney' program on CBC Sunday afternoon while we waited what felt like an eternity for the potatoes to be ready. Many a Sunday I cursed those potatoes.


My recipe for scalloped potatoes is actually Betty Crocker's recipe. (An honest-to-goodness recipe, not an 'instant potatoes' find at the grocery store.) I've been making this version of scalloped potatoes for years. I think I came across it just after getting married in 1998. Which is so long ago now that I wrote the recipe out on an actual card. With a pen. And filed it in a little box.

Scalloped potatoes aren't particularly complicated. This was the first batch I made using the new mandoline. I like the consistency of the mandoline because each slice cooks evenly, but I must admit I missed the more random results that slicing potatoes with a knife brings to scalloped potatoes. I imagine that years from now my own kids will remember not how they had to wait hours for their potatoes, but how offended they were that mummy dared to serve them something besides mashed potatoes. Funny how a little boy who hates mashed potatoes suddenly loves mashed potatoes when scalloped make an appearance. So here's how we do this:

Betty Crocker Scalloped Potatoes

3 tbsp butter
1 small onion, finely chopped (about 1/4 cup)
3 tbsp flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 1/2 cups milk (heated)
6 medium potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced (about 6 cups)
1 tbsp butter


Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 2 quart casserole with cooking spray. In saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Cook onion in butter about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally until tender. Stir in flour, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring constantly until smooth and bubbly. Remove from heat. Slowly add milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute. Arrange potatoes in casserole dish. Pour sauce evenly over potatoes. Cut 1 tbsp butter into small pieces and sprinkle over potatoes. Cover and bake 30 minutes. Uncover and bake 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes longer or until potatoes are tender. Let stand 5-10 minutes before serving.

Without ketchup, for the purists....