The first time I tasted scalloped potatoes was a recipe my Aunt Mary had given to my mother. It isn’t a food I grew up with. Mother made it for some special occasion, likely because it would be acceptable to the crowd and was an easy recipe and very amenable to taking to a potluck. I thought it would be a great dish to make in advance for dinner.

I tried making it a few times, but never enjoyed it as much as I did when mom had made Aunt Mary’s scalloped potatoes. When I tried to make it after I had moved to England, I couldn’t find one of the ingredients, so I decided to experiment. I began to come to terms with the idea I was going to have to make some things up to make a scalloped potato dish that I liked and the family liked and that I could replicate.

My first attempt at creating this on my own was fairly successful. The kids liked it and it was easy. If I remember correctly, I sliced the potatoes, seasoned it and added milk or cream and baked it. In my memory it was a flavorful creamy dish. The next time… well… I taught the kids about “but it tastes OK, right?”

I’m sure I tried to replicate that first success at least once more before I scrapped it and started over. Remember – cookbooks, no internet in those days, and mom was a long distance land line call across five time zones.

My goal was a creamy, saucy potato casserole that I could prepare in advance and bake while the after school chaos ensued. The time I had gotten away with just adding cream or milk to the potatoes could have been the variety of potato, I guess. Brits know more about potatoes than I knew could be known (maybe we’ll go there another day). I couldn’t get it to turn out right again, so I decided I should try making the sauce to go onto the potatoes like my mother taught me to make gravy. Equal parts fat (butter, oil, roast dripping) and flour, plus a liquid such as milk or broth and simmer to the consistency you want. Twenty years later, I learned this has a name in the food world: roux.

I’d love to tell you I had found the key. My mother wasn’t there to teach me the nuances of making roux. It’s not as simple as mixing the 3 ingredients, although I had seen her do it dozens of times so I had an idea how it should go.

It took some experimentation but I was onto something. I was able to make a creamy, tasty, easy potato casserole, prepare it in advance, even a day before, put it in the oven for an hour with little attention, and almost dinner! It still didn’t win over the family. Then I thought of cheese. At first, I sprinkled it on top. Then – then I thought of melting cheese into the roux to make a cheese sauce. (Mother would not have been on board for this part.) It turns out that a roux is the building block of many sauces and styles of sauces and there are tricks to getting the flavor and texture right.

This was the winner and the food I still serve when the kids come home at the end of a hard week just to unwind. It’s the recipe they most often phone home for when they can’t get home but need some comfort food.

I’ve found some fun ways to flavor boost for adult comfort food depending what I have in the pantry. When the kids aren’t home I like to layer white or yellow onion slices or sweet potatoes with the white potatoes, put whole fresh tomatoes in the corners of the baking dish, and add herbs and spices to the sauce. I love red onions, but the color leeches into the sauce and gives the dish an unappetizing grey tinge. I’ve also found some new twists on this favorite which I can share another time. In the meantime, experiment with it and find what you love best. Make it personal.

White potatoes are very nutritious, but the quantities consumed in the US and possibly the UK lead to a lot of illnesses that are new to my generation and Gens X Y and Z. This is especially true when we consider how we like potatoes best deep fried in saturated fat. This recipe serves 8 (in my house occasionally just 4 or less). Remember – this is one ounce of cheese per serving and there is nothing wrong with that. Cheese is nutritious, but it is also high in saturated fats – LDL – the bad ones.

Read the labels on your cheeses. Some of the commercial brands aren’t actually food. Cheddar cheese is a hard cheese and should not be soft or gooey at room temperature. The ingredients in real cheddar cheese include milk, cheese culture, salt and sometimes a natural coloring agent (annatto). I specify buying a block of cheese instead of shredded for a reason. Pre-shredded cheese is packaged with an anti-caking agent (not food – it’s made from wood pulp) and natamycin, an anti-molding agent used to extend shelf life. Synthetic additive surprise! Not my kind of surprise. Natamycin is also found in some commercial block cheese. Read those labels. Real cheese tastes better and has better texture.

I am not a huge fan of extra sharp cheddar cheese on its own, but I love the bold flavor it gives these potatoes. If you use sharp cheddar instead, the finished flavor will be milder but still very enjoyable.

I use a little bit of yellow mustard in the recipe to give it a tiny little tang. I know how some people feel about yellow mustard – I’m looking at you Child 3 (in order of age, not preference) – but you can’t taste it. Leave it out if you want. Try a different mustard if you want. I always peel the potatoes and have never tried this dish with the skins on – but give it a try if you want!

Last word before the actual recipe – thank you to Lucy, Child 1, who finally forced me to distill my “about this much”, or “it looks like this” into “use 1 cup of” language. We stole an hour out of her day while Grandchild 1 (again in chronological order) snoozed not too far away. If this recipe works for you today, thank Lucy.

Ingredients

• 4 T butter (not margarine)
• 4 T all purpose flour
• 2 C milk
• pinch to 1/8 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
• 8 ounce block of extra sharp cheddar cheese sliced thin or shredded
• 1 tsp yellow mustard
• 6 large white potatoes (about 4.5 pounds)

I like to make the sauce first, then slice and assemble. If you’re a beginner cook, this is probably wise. If you aren’t, then I’m not talking to you and you know what to do.

Assemble the sauce ingredients before you begin. Melt the butter on medium low in a saucepan large enough to hold 2 -3 cups of sauce. When the butter is melted stir in the flour.

Stir this mixture for a minute on low so that the flour cooks. It shouldn’t brown too much – golden is fine, brown won’t hurt anything but it changes the color of the result. If you skip this step, the result has a distinct taste of flour. Taste a little bit of it as you go if you want.

Add the milk very gradually. When you first pour in some milk, it’s going to sizzle and steam – keep the temp below medium to minimize this. Pour in a little milk (less than 1/4 cup) and use a whisk to combine with the flour and butter mixture and work out any lumps before the next addition of milk. You should notice it turns into kind of a paste in the beginning. Add a little more milk and stir with a whisk, letting the mixture come back up to temperature. Continue until all the milk is incorporated. You should wind up with a rather thin white gravy. What happens if you do this step wrong? Lumps. The dish is still completely edible and tasty and the only way past it is through it.

Once all the milk is incorporated, gently bring the sauce to a slow simmer. You want it hot enough for some bubbles to come up – this thickens the sauce, but not hot enough to boil. Cheese and milk burn easily, so stir often. Add the red pepper flakes and mustard, if using.

Preheat the oven to 400 F.

Begin to add the cheese in small amounts. Stir until melted and add more cheese. Repeat until all the cheese is melted into the sauce. You should have a thick cheesy sauce now. If not, let it simmer gently for a minute. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and then add a little more. Because we aren’t seasoning the potatoes directly, the sauce needs to have the extra salt. Or, don’t add a little more, and season at the table.

Remove the sauce from the heat and try really hard not to eat the sauce before it gets to the potatoes.

Peel and thinly slice the potatoes into a 9 x 13 baking dish. How thin is not as important as how consistent. I like to pour some sauce over the potatoes when I’ve sliced about half of them. This prevents the raw potatoes turning brown in the air waiting for you to slice them all. From time to time you can use your fingers to sort of level out the potatoes, or you can gently shake the baking dish. Layer the rest of the potato slices in the dish, and pour over the remaining sauce. Use a spoon to smooth the sauce over the top of all the potatoes. The sauce might not completely cover the potatoes, and this is ok, but there should be at least a coating of sauce over the top. You could top with additional shredded cheese if you want.

Bake at 400 F for an hour, depending on the oven, the potato thickness, etc. The result should be a lightly browned beautiful cheesy side to dinner. If you’re concerned whether it’s done, a toothpick inserted in the middle should not detect any uncooked potato. I like to let it sit for 10 to 15 minutes before serving so that the cheese solidifies a little.

Another dish that is always better the next day, I will sometimes freeze single serving portions to pull together a quick meal. I hope you enjoy it!