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Scalloped potatoes! Can anyone in the SE community provided their best recipe?

Actually a twice-baked stuffed potato filled with that fresh corn polenta with a battuto made from frizzled pancetta and onions and maybe even hot or sweet peppers too with a hint of rosemary to strew over the top of the stuffed potato would be rather luxurious and swoonable also.

I have to be honest, I loved Robert Irvines technique for haselback potatoes. I can do them up to a day ahead and then just pop them in for the final roasting, and they come out wonderfully crunchy on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside. I make them with an infused olive oil for a little extra flavor.

Pineapple soufflee. Easy as anything and really good with ham. Cube four cups of bread (I like something with body, like a ciabatta (sp?) bread. Mix three eggs, 1.5 cups milk, I large can of crushed pineapple, a bit of salt, and a cup of sugar together. Pour over the bread. Bake until set and golden on top. The first time I heard about this I nearly gagged, until I tried it. Now I don't serve ham without it.

(Google it on the internet for the exact measurements, I just pulled those out of my head.)

Since you already have a starch, I'd go with baked sweet potato. You can serve as is, or mash alone or with banana - delicious. I'm not a fan of sweet toppings, but many love that too - candied nuts and marshmallows.

I may be mistaken, but I believe scalloped potatoes is essentially gratin dauphinoise. Personally, while that is a delicious potato dish, it's way too heavy for me. I prefer a lighter gratin savoyard, or potatoes savoyard. It's similar to the cream laden dish, except that the cream is replaced by meat stock.

All you have to do is layer 2 lbs of 1/4 inch sliced potato with 1/8 inch slices of onion and grated cheese (I use Gruyère) in a buttered cast iron skillet or casserole. Pour in some stock. Start with about a cup, and add more if the gratin begins to look dry in the oven. Personally, I like to use ham stock when serving with a ham, but chicken would work as well. Beef stock might be too strong, and compete with the ham, though it is traditional - it would probably be better with roast beef. Sprinkle some more cheese on top, and bake at 425 until the potatoes are tender, and stock is absorbed.

"Mastering the Art of French Cooking" says to bring the casserole to a simmer before adding it to the oven, but that just speeds the cooking slightly; personally I prefer to skip it and just bake the thing a bit longer. Also, last time I did this, I baked it at 325, for much longer than normal (the oven had to be at 325 because I was doing a roast pork loin). It worked fine.

i made this fabulous (though very rich) potato, porcini & marscapone gratin for thanksgiving. it was a very big hit and i didnt have any leftovers. recipe from bon appetit 11/07:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/240408

In my opinion, the zenith of potato capabilities are yam fries, which are fairly no-fuss to make and everyone seems to love them.

Just slice your desired quantity of steak-cut fries from high-quality yams (skins on), toss on a baking sheet with olive oil, fresh or dried rosemary, sea salt, and pepper. Bake at 375-400 degrees for a half hour, toss again, bake for another 20-30 minutes until tender but not soggy.

This is the dish I must prepare with ham. The family demands it. google a recipe for Sweet Potato Pone. Where it calls for allspice, cloves and nutmeg, eliminate them and sustitute an equal amount of garam masala. even if I cheat and use canned sweets everyone raves,.

I second the sweet potatoes -- any prep would be fine. They still satisfy the need for an alternate starch, but offer the benefits of colorful veggie nutrients. Also, their sweetness goes so beautifully with things like ham, pork, etc.

If it must be a simple-prep regular potato dish, I'd go with foil-roasted reds. Just cut them into large chunks (quarters, sixths or eighths, depending on size), along with some sliced onion or pearls or cipollini if desired. Toss it all with olive oil, S&P, some fresh or dried thyme, garlic (optional), and some paprika (I use the hot kind). Let sit for an hour or so. Plop onto large sheets of foil, seal up into packets, and roast until done (I use my gas grill outdoors, but oven is fine). Give the potatoes a little squeeze every so often, right through the foil, to decide doneness.

No muss, no fuss, and ALWAYS gets raves. The thyme seems to be the essential variable to garner raves. I actually prefer them without the garlic, which might be more appropriate for your menu anyway.

There's a potato dish that used to somehow appear in the middle of my dreams while I was sleeping - dreams about completely different ridiculous things. It's called "Hungarian Potatoes". Here's how you make it: Saute chopped onions in butter. Add some good paprika (hot, sweet, mixed, whatever you like). Be generous with the paprika but don't overdo it. Add some chopped tomatoes to the onion/paprika mix and cook several minutes.

Toss some sliced potatoes into a baking dish along with the onion/tomato/paprika mix. Season with salt and pepper. Then barely cover with some good beef stock. Cook in the oven uncovered till done. Serve sprinkled with fresh chopped parsley.

This is the stuff that dreams are made of.

Well - for me anyway. :)

Darn it. You're going hot and bubbly. My mind had just turned to hot and crispy with lacy deep-fried potato nests. :)

Here's the recipe then, LoCo, from the 1961 edition of Larousse just where I thought it would be. (By the way, I just started two blogs one of them on Larousse 1961 called "Larousse Bites" which you can find here if you like to dabble in Larousse. I won't be blogging each day at first, though.)

Potatoes a la hongroise
Soften 6 tablespoons of chopped onion in butter in a saute pan. Season with 1/2 teaspoon of paprika. Add one peeled seeded and roughly chopped tomato.
Put in a pound of long potatoes cut into rather thick round slices. Season with salt. Moisten with meat stock in just sufficient quantity to cover the potatoes. Bake in the oven. Sprinkle with chopped parsley.

Incredible the simplicity of the recipe in terms of the assumed technical knowledge of the reader. Reminds me of Elizabeth David also. Which reminds me that she might have some great potato recipes too.

Where potatoes lead, I follow.

I like the baked bean idea, and with it: potato salad. Cooked and rough-diced potatoes, chilled, with diced celery, diced green pepper and a mayo dressing (mayo, salt, pepper, a little dry mustard and a littke picke juice). It's what my mother always serves with ham ... and I want some now.

Karen my people would lose their mind if anything was on the table with chili for a formal sit down LOL!!!

I understand, Jerzee. One of the worst fights I ever had when married was over the fact that I said I was making "calamari" for supper and when he sat down it was not the stuffed calamari I usually made but rather pasta with a calamari sauce. You would have thought I had committed a mortal sin against humanity the way he carried on.

People do have their ways with how they think food should be. :)

I'm sure your people will love the food. Merry Christmas!

Sweet Potato Gratin with Aged Gouda, Thyme and Rosemary. Back at my site.