FNCCC Week 31 - Robert Irvin

Food Network's Robert Irvine was this week's chef for FNCCC. He had a ton of recipes but I really had a hard time finding one I wanted to make. Too many meat dishes and I had a 10 pound bag of potatoes to use up. SOOOOOO, his scalloped potatoes made the cut. Not sure it would have worked if I followed the recipe, as the milk measurement seamed SIGNIFICANTLY small. I added left over Easter ham to make it a full meal.

My girls didn't like it but my husband and I thought it was good. I am enjoying the leftovers. Yum!

School's Out Scalloped Potatoes
Recipe courtesy Robert Irvine with Brian O'Reilly
Ingredients
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
1 large white onion, diced (I didn't have an onion - gasp - so used onion powder and I really liked it....I would even use it again!)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour (or rice flour to make the dish gluten-free)
3/4 (????) cup milk (*****I used 3 and 3/4 cups.....not sure how you make a white sauce for this many potatoes with 3/4 cup milk - and 1/2 flour****this has got to be a typo)
White pepper (never have white pepper but need it enough that I should get some)
Dash salt (be careful because there is salt in the cheese)
3/4 cup shredded white Cheddar
4 to 5 potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
1/8 cup finely sliced white parts scallions, for garnish
1/8 cup bread crumbs for topping (omit for a gluten-free dish)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease an oven-to-table baking dish with some of the butter.
Melt the rest of the butter in a saucepan or small skillet and saute the onion until it becomes translucent. Gradually add the flour to make blond roux, then slowly add the milk and allow the mixture to thicken. Season with white pepper and just a dash of salt and remove from heat. (Be careful to avoid overdoing the salt, because there is salt in the cheese.)

Layer 1/3 of the potatoes in the baking dish, followed by 1/3 of the milk sauce, and 1/4 cup of the shredded white Cheddar. Repeat the sequence twice for a total of 3 layers. You can top with the breadcrumbs before baking, but omit if making the dish gluten-free. Bake covered for about 45 minutes to 1 hour, removing the cover for the last 10 minutes. (You can speed up the cooking time by pre-microwaving for 10 to 15 minutes before baking, or even par-boiling the potatoes.) ***I had to cook it a lot longer. My potatoes might not have been sliced as thin as they should have.

The scalloped potatoes are done when the potatoes are tender. Let rest a few minutes before serving. Garnish with sliced scallions and bread crumbs.

So what did you find to make? Post your recipes in MckLinky below. Can't wait to see what you are cooking! Go enter the giveaway while you are at it :)