Dream Street Scalloped Potatoes

This fall, before the produce vanished completely, we took the opportunity to pick up a 50# bag of potatoes at the farm-stand.   It’s been kind of nice having them on hand to use and not have to think about buying them every time I need potatoes.  Except, wouldn’t you know, we don’t have anyplace to store potatoes at the proper temperature (somewhere around 48º) and they’ve started the process of sprouting.   The potato dishes have been increasing ever since.  A big ole pot of mashed potatoes will grace the Thanksgiving table, but in the meantime, there are plenty of ways to use potatoes.

Today’s recipe is unlike any scalloped potato I have ever made.  I found it in a very old cookbook that once belonged to my grandma called “The New Cook It In A Casserole” by Florence Brobeck, and published first in 1955.   This book was published when entertaining was truly an art-form, and the recipes are very reflective of this.  I love sitting down with an old cookbook and picture the days of eras gone by- even better when there is an occasional note by my grandma, and I find it so interesting that she would have made something called “Crab Meat Delight” to which she added wine.  (She lived in the Northwoods of Wisconsin- crab is hardly commonplace.)

I decided I needed to cook something out of this book, and as I read through the recipe for Dream Street Scalloped Potatoes, I was completely intrigued.   First off, the potatoes are boiled first.  I’ve never used pre-cooked potatoes for scalloped potatoes.  Secondly, the recipe called for the addition of hard cooked eggs.  I’ve been on the lookout for more ways to add eggs to our diet- they’re such a fantastic protein source.  And then when it comes to the sauce, you don’t actually cook up a sauce- sour cream and light cream are combined and simply poured over the potatoes.  I did take a liberty when it came to the buttered crumbs, and I also added pepper with the salt in the recipe.

The result was unlike any scalloped potato I’ve ever had, and at first, I wasn’t sure I liked it.  But then I couldn’t stop eating it.  And Andy and I fought over who would get the leftovers the next day. (Just as good the next day, by the way.)  In fact, as I’m typing this up, I’m seriously wishing I had some leftover ham so that I could make this again.  This does not make a creamy scalloped potato in the traditional sense- there is no luscious sauce, but the starch in the potatoes combined with the creams makes the potatoes velvety- almost like a custard, really.

At the very end of the recipe in the book, it also notes that it’s “delicious too, when chopped sardines replace the ham.”  That makes me smile, and it certainly makes me wonder about the flavor of that casserole.

This recipe is a keeper- for the buttered crumbs I actually used a 1/2 cup of Stove Top stuffing crumbs that I had in the pantry.  That added a fantastic layer of flavor- and will be how I make it in the future.

Dream Street Scalloped Potatoes

• 4 boiled potatoes, sliced thin
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 hard-cooked eggs, sliced (I used 3)
• 1 cup sour cream, divided
• 1/4 cup chopped, cooked ham
• 1/2 cup light cream (half and half)
• 1/2 cup buttered crumbs (I used Stove Top crumbs)

Arrange the potato slices in a greased baking dish (one and one-half quart).  Season lightly with salt, pepper and dabs of butter.  Cover with the egg slices, and then spread 1/2 cup of sour cream over the eggs.  Add remaining potato slices, and sprinkle with salt and pepper, followed by the ham and the crumbs.  Mix the remaining 1/2 cup of sour cream with the half and half.  Pour over the whole dish.  Bake in a hot oven (450º) for thirty minutes, or until the top is nicely browned.  Makes 4 servings.