Today I want to talk potatoes. Specifically Potatoes Au Gratin, or as they are commonly known, scalloped potatoes. I’ll be honest, I’ve always been afraid to attempt this dish, as it seemed extremely time and energy consuming. So when my husband generously volunteered us to provide Potatoes Au Gratin as our contribution to the Thanksgiving dinner table last year, I was absolutely mortified. As I was hearing the offer come out of his mouth, I started feverishly thinking about the ingredients that I would need, where I would look for the recipe, and when in the world will I have the time to make this monster of a dish. Believe you me, I wasn’t wasting any time. As Thanksgiving dinner menu options were being discussed, I was already searching for recipes on my iPhone recipe apps.

I went through multiple recipes hoping to find the simplest possible one and fearing that a simple Potatoes Au Gratin recipe just does not exist. But lo and behold, it actually does, and from the most unlikely of sources, Emeril Lagasse. When I came upon this recipe I was relieved to see that it is actually possible to make scalloped potatoes with minimal effort.

The first time I made scalloped potatoes, hubby sliced all the potatoes, which made my job super easy. This time around however, I did everything myself. I pretty much followed the recipe, except that (there is always an except), I didn’t have white pepper, so I used black pepper. I used a combination of half-and-half and fat-free milk, instead of whole milk, and I used shredded Cheddar Monterey blend and shredded Mozzarella. The big thing that I did differently was that I used raw red potatoes instead of cooked potatoes, therefore having to bake the potatoes about 40 minutes.

Here is what I got…

Hubby said that it might have been a little light on salt. I thought it was pretty good, but I guess I am not the most objective judge. Next time I’ll be more generous.