Please Pass the Potatoes...

Scalloped Potatoes – Vegetable and Supper Dishes, Pg. 163 – Stella A. Lohnes (Mrs. J. A.)





What’d you do with the potatoes?! That’s what your friends and family will be asking when they try these fantastical potatoes! Scalloped potatoes are a popular maritime side dish – extremely popular with a ham dinner. Commonly referred to as a gratin, scalloped potatoes consist of thinly sliced potatoes in a cream sauce usually baked in a shallow dish and topped with breadcrumbs and/or cheese to form a crusty topping as it bakes.

The Dutch Oven Cookbook provides a simple classic version of this dish – the same version many of our Mom’s used to make for Sunday dinner. While it’s a fine recipe, we tested a few different ones over the years that have stepped it up a notch or two by adding some unexpected ingredients. Our favorite recipe for scalloped potatoes comes from . This recipe uses some added ingredienthttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifs like fresh thyme and chicken stock to step up the flavor factor– so for this post we present a Dutch oven / America’s Test Kitchen mash up! Two recipes – five potatoes – one flavor sensational side dish!

Scalloped Potatoes

Ingredients:

5-6 medium potatoes (thinly sliced)
1 medium onion finely chopped
2 cloves are garlic (minced)
1 Tbsp fresh thyme (minced) – chives would work nicely as well
2 bay leaves
1 tsp Salt
¼ tsp fresh pepper
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup milk (cream can be used for a creamier sauce)
1 cup cheddar cheese
¼ cup panko bread crumbs

Directions:

Thinly slice 5 medium potatoes (a mandolin is a great time saver for this). Using a large pan, sauté onion for about 5 minutes, until softened (shouldn’t be browned). Add garlic, thyme, salt and pepper to onion, sauté for about a minute. Add potatoes, chicken stock, milk and bay leaves - simmer for 10 minutes until potatoes are softened. Transfer the potatoes to a baking dish (9x11 works well). Sprinkle cheese and breadcrumbs on top. Bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes.







With this quick, easy and delicious recipe – we guarantee that the folks around your dinner table will be asking you to – please pass the potatoes!

Say YES to the Dress...ing

(recipe adapted from) Dressing – Meat & Fowl, Pg. 134–Violet D. Allen (Mrs. L)

Dressing, as it’s referred to on the east coast of Canada is known as stuffing to many North Americans. By many it's considered to be the hands down starring side dish next to the bird around the holiday dinner table. Turkey dinner just isn’t turkey dinner without it.

This recipe is very similar to the recipes that our mom’s make and likely that our grandmother’s made. The base begins with seasoned mashed potatoes, combined with sautéed onions and apples for sweetness, dried breadcrumbs for texture, and of course summer savory! Summer savory in Atlantic Canada is what sage is to the rest of the world. Summer savory is what makes dressing...well...dressing!

Ingredients:

2 medium potatoes
3 cups dry bread crumbs
1 medium onion (chopped finely)
1 small apple (diced)
3 Tbsp butter
1 tsp salt
1 tsp summer savory
¼ tsp pepper

Directions:

Boil potatoes until tender in salted water. Drain and mash with 2 tbsp butter. Add dried bread crumbs. Sauté onion and apple in 1 tbsp butter until softened. Add onions and apple to potato/bread mixture along with salt, pepper and summer savory. Mix until well combined. Transfer dressing to baking dish.



Dutch Oven Tips & Tricks:

This recipe is quite small; we’d recommend doubling it to serve any more than 4 people. It can also be modified in case you prefer a higher potato ratio to bread – just increase the amount of potato and use fewer bread crumbs. Speaking of bread crumbs – we used regular old white sandwich bread (America’s test kitchen suggestion) and dried the bread crumbs at a low temperature (200 degrees) in the oven for about 20 mins. We found this recipe is a little light on the summer savory – those who like it, like it lot (like our Keith’s) – we suggest you season to your own taste. Lastly – the recipe in the Dutch Oven suggests roasting the dressing in the cavity of your bird – does anyone do this anymore? We prefer to dress our bird rather than stuff it, so we simply transferred the stuffing to a baking dish for storage and heated in the oven to serve with the turkey or chicken.

Regardless of whether you stuff your bird or dress it, we recommend you say YES to the dress…ing.