all things food
Dill Pickles Recipe
These dill pickles taste incredibly fresh and have the perfect balance of dill and garlic flavor. Learn everything you need to know about how to make them!
READ: Dill Pickles Recipe
These dill pickles taste incredibly fresh and have the perfect balance of dill and garlic flavor. Learn everything you need to know about how to make them!
READ: Dill Pickles Recipe
This scalloped potatoes recipe makes a rich and creamy side dish. Make them to serve on holidays or with a weeknight dinner.
The post The Creamiest Scalloped Potatoes appeared first on Brown Eyed Baker.
This scalloped potatoes recipe makes a rich and creamy side dish. Make them to serve on holidays or with a weeknight dinner.
Scalloped potatoes are legendary in my family. Back when we would all gather at my grandma’s for Sunday dinner, if a pan of scalloped potatoes showed up on the table, madness ensued. My cousins and I always lobbied for seats closest to the pan so we could take extra servings without sharing. To say they are high on my list of comfort foods is an understatement.
My grandma made hers from a box mix, and they were always delicious, but now I like to make them from scratch. This particular recipe is very holiday-worthy – tender potatoes, bubbly cheese, and a creamy sauce come together for a bite that tastes like home.
It also pairs well with many everyday meals. You can serve them with steak, chicken, burgers, or just about any other meat.
You could even serve them alongside some roasted vegetables or a green salad for a vegetarian meal.
This scalloped potato recipe is so easy to put together. There’s no reason you can’t make it any time of the year, and once you’ve tasted them you’re going to want to!
While similar, there are differences between these two potato dishes.
Both are baked in a cream sauce, and that’s about it to be called scalloped potatoes.
Au gratin also has cheese sprinkled in between the layers of potatoes and over the top. Sometimes breadcrumbs are also added for more texture.
Even though both methods are combined for this scalloped potatoes recipe, we’re sticking with the more well-known name.
Melt the butter in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat for about a minute. Saute the onion until it starts to brown, then add the garlic and cook until fragrant.
Add the dairy and spices and stir until combined.
Place the sliced potatoes in the Dutch oven and stir to coat them with the sauce. Cover and bring to a simmer.
Continue to simmer until the potatoes are almost tender. Make sure not to let it boil or the milk can burn and curdle.
Stir occasionally to make sure the potatoes don’t stick to the bottom.
Once the potatoes are ready, remove the thyme and bay leaves.
Carefully pour everything into your baking dish and top with the shredded cheese.
Bake for about 30 minutes. The cream should be thick and bubbly, and the top will be golden brown.
Cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.
You can garnish with more fresh thyme if you’d like, or just dive right in and enjoy!
What’s the best way to slice potatoes for scalloped potatoes?
A good old fashioned knife is all you need to slice potatoes, but using other kitchen tools can save you time and give you perfectly even slices. Having even slices means your potatoes will all cook the same and be the same texture.
Mandolines are the most common tool used to slice potatoes. If you’re new to using one, use the guard that’s provided to protect your fingers.
You can also use the slicing disc attachment on your food processor. This is probably the fastest way to get perfectly sliced potatoes if you don’t mind extra dishes.
Can I use pre-shredded cheese?
Pre-shredded cheese might save a little time, but it has a preservative in it that keeps the cheese from clumping together in the bag. That means that it doesn’t melt as smoothly as fresh does.
Buy a block of cheese and shred it yourself – it’ll be worth it.
If you’re already using a food processor to slice the potatoes, you can swap the disc attachments and shred your cheese with it too.
Can I use less cheese?
This scalloped potato recipe has a thick layer of bubbly, browned cheese on top, but you can always use less cheese if it’s too much for you.
Can I make scalloped potatoes ahead of time?
Yes, there are a couple of ways you can do this.
One way is the prepare the sauce and potatoes, add to the casserole dish, then wrap tightly with plastic wrap or foil and refrigerate. This can be done up to two days in advance. When you’re ready to cook, sprinkle the cheese on top and bake as directed.
You can also follow the entire scalloped potatoes recipe the day before, then cool and refrigerate. Cover with a lid or wrap tightly with foil.
Reheat by baking at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes, or until sauce is bubbling and the dish is heated through.
If you’re putting the pan in the oven straight from the fridge, it may take up to 45 minutes to reheat.
I hope you’ll put this on your menu for the holidays or the next time you’re craving a wonderfully creamy and cheesy side dish! If you make it, I’d love if you would take a moment to stop back and share a review below. ENJOY! 😍
Originally published in 2011, this has been updated to include new photos, a helpful video tutorial, and more in-depth recipe tips.
[photos by Ari of Well Seasoned]
The post The Creamiest Scalloped Potatoes appeared first on Brown Eyed Baker.
The best chicken and dumplings recipe made completely from scratch with a rich stew and fluffy dumplings. Make it a quick meal by using rotisserie chicken!
The post Homemade Chicken and Dumplings appeared first on Brown Eyed Baker.
Long ago while I was in college, I went to the beach with a friend’s family. As is the case on many beach vacations when you rent a house with a lot of people, family members took turns cooking dinner on the nights we didn’t go out to eat. I forever remember the night her aunt made a big pot of chicken and dumplings for everyone. I have no idea how she made it, I wasn’t inclined to ask for the recipe (I was in college and rarely did any cooking of my own), but that memory and that meal never left my mind.
Years later, I would try it on my own and make an okay version, then try again and again, different variations until finally, FINALLY, I put together all of the pieces for the absolute best chicken and dumplings recipe.
Chicken and dumplings, at its core, is essentially a chicken stew with dumplings cooked on its surface. For maximum flavor, we want to make a really rich and hearty stew base that just screams comfort food. Here’s how we do it:
First, we begin with a common soup starter trio: onion, carrots, and celery. They are sauteed in butter, and then we add garlic.
In order to thicken the chicken stew base, we stir in flour until it is thoroughly cooked through and the vegetables are coated. Then, chicken stock is added, as well as heavy cream (for extra flavor and thickness), salt, pepper, thyme, and bay leaves. We’re packing in alllll the flavors. We let all of that simmer together while we make the dumplings.
Truth: No one wants to dig into a dense, soggy dumpling.
So how do we make utterly fantastic dumplings? They are incredibly easy!
We whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; the baking powder is what gives the dumplings a nice, fluffy interior.
Then, melted butter and milk are added for moisture and fat; these help the dumplings hold their shape and keep them nice and tender.
You don’t want to overmix the dough or they will be tough and dense; just a quick stir to get them to come together and call it quits.
After stirring the chopped chicken, peas, and parsley into the vegetable mixture, you’ll drop the dumpling dough all over the surface of the chicken stew.
Very Important! >> Once the dumplings have been dropped into the liquid, cover with a lid and DO. NOT. PEEK. You want that steam trapped inside the pot to get those dumplings nice and fluffy.
Once the 15 minutes are up, test the dumplings for doneness; if they need a few more minutes to cook, you can flip them over at this point, then cover again and cook for a few minutes at a time until done.
If you love chicken-based comfort food dishes, these will be right up your alley:
I would absolutely love it if you made this for dinner sometime soon; if you do, please stop back and leave a rating and let me know how you liked it! ENJOY! 😍
[photos by Ari of Well Seasoned]
The post Homemade Chicken and Dumplings appeared first on Brown Eyed Baker.