I make two styles.

One is made with cream. No need to thicken with flour if you start by simmering the potato slices in cream, just long enough for the starch in the potato to thicken the sauce.

And the other style I make is with chicken broth. I love them both.

Potato Gratin

I don't usually follow a recipe when making a Potato Gratin. Use the following as a guideline and adjust everything to your own taste.

For a rich dish, use butter and whipping cream.

3 to 5 Russet Potatoes (or more depending on number of servings required)
1 garlic clove
1 teaspoon fresh thyme (optional)
Butter
Heavy Cream (or milk if you want a less rich version)
Parmesan cheese
Gruyere cheese as well as cheddar and blue cheeses can be added for a different taste all together.
Salt and pepper

Rub cut garlic clove over the surface of a gratin or casserole dish. Butter.

Slice potatoes and place in pot and add enough cream/milk to almost cover. Add the garlic clove, thyme, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and simmer for a few minutes, stirring often so the potatoes do not stick. When the potatoes have released some of their starch and thickend the liquid, remove the garlic clove, add 1 to 2 tablespoons butter and some grated Parmesan cheese. Pour into prepared casserole dish, dot with butter and sprinkle with some more Parmesan cheese. TIP: If you like a more garlicky flavour, just grated a garlic clove on a microplane and add to the cream mixture.

Bake in a 375�F oven for 45 to 55 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Remove from oven and let sit for 10 minutes before serving.

Second Method
Another way to make a potato Gratin is to saute some thinly sliced onions in olive oil or butter until golden, add some thyme, and some chicken broth. Add the potatoes, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Pour into a buttered casserole dish sprinkle with some Parmesan cheese and bake until cooked.

Ann, are the potatoes in your skillet the chicken broth ones? They look delicious.

I don't make scalloped potatoes often, but one recipe I've tried and really liked is this one from Cooking Light:

Cider Scalloped Potatoes

Published: Cooking Light- 10/01/98

INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup 1% low-fat milk
1 cup apple cider
1/2 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded smoked Gouda cheese
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded reduced-fat Jarlsberg cheese
2 pounds Yukon gold or yellow Finnish potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Place the flour in a medium saucepan. Gradually add the milk, stirring with a whisk until blended. Stir in cider, broth, salt, pepper, and nutmeg; bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Combine cheeses in a small bowl. Arrange half of the potato slices in a shallow 3-quart casserole, and sprinkle with 1/2 cup cheese mixture. Arrange the remaining potato slices on top. Pour the cider mixture over the potatoes, and bake at 425 degrees for 25 minutes. Remove from oven; press potatoes with a spatula. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup cheese mixture, and bake an additional 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Let stand 10 minutes.

YIELD: 8 servings
PREPARATION TIME:20 minutes
COOKING TIME: 70 minutes

NUTRITIONAL INFO
calories: 140 carbohydrates: 22.1 g cholesterol: 10 mg fat: 2.8 g sodium: 274 mg protein: 6.7 g calcium: 146 mg iron: 0.9 mg fiber: 1.5 g

Kathy

Jasdip, Yes, those are the potatoes cooked in chicken broth.

Ann

Jasdip, we love scalloped potatoes, so I make them quite often. I do basic scalloped potatoes one of three ways:

1. Put a little cream in bottom of dish (I usually use a ten-inch cast iron skillet) then a layer of sliced potatoes, onions, salt, pepper. Cover liberally with cream. Repeat. If you want au gratin add cheese in between layers and on top. Cover and bake at 350 until tender; remove foil or lid and let brown.

2. Do the same thing but use a thin white sauce in place of cream.

3. Do the same thing either way but substitute all or part of cream (or milk if using white sauce) with chicken broth.

My favorite way is with the cream, because I'm lazy and it's so easy. It makes a nice thick and creamy (duh) sauce. I'm also pretty liberal with the onions.

I like to bake mine for quite a while because we like a melt-in-your-mouth texture. No resistance!

Scalloped potatoes are so versatile; you can add sauted mushrooms (I do this to remove most of the water), ranch dressing and cooked bacon, etc. Yes, we love our scalloped potatoes.

Judi

I usually just slice mine and combine with a medium white sauce and then bake. Takes about an hour and a half in the oven if it's a 13 by 9 by 2.
Joann

I use a medium Bechamel Sauce,
Lightly seasoned with salt & white pepper.

Sometimes layer with thin slices of sweet onions,
Other times just the thinly sliced potatoes.

Bake at 350 degrees until done,
And lightly browned on top.

Rusty

I've made scalloped potatoes many ways over the years.
I grew up on a simple method of slicing potatoes and laying them in a casserole dish with flour, S+P, butter and sometimes thinly sliced onion. As many layers as you want to fill the dish. Pour in milk until you can see it, just under the top. Bake until bubbly and potatoes are soft.
Thats the old fashioned way my DM made them. She usually made them when we were having meatloaf or ham.

I got into making them using a white sauce and sometimes adding cheese. No recipe as how much sauce depended on how many potatoes I wanted to use.

Recently I came across a recipe that I thought I would try because I had never had scalloped potatoes with green pepper in them. OMG. So good.

This recipe calls for ham, just leave it out if you have other meat you are serving.

Scalloped Potatoes and Ham

Prep Time: 20 mins Total Time: 1 hrs 50 mins
Servings: 8

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup flour
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
3 cups milk
3 cups ham, cooked (optional)
1 large green peppers, chopped
1 large onions, chopped
1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
5 cups potatoes, pared and sliced
Extra shredded cheese for on top---if desired. Put
on during last half hour of baking.

Directions

Melt butter in large sauce pan over low heat; blend in flour, salt, and pepper.
Cook, stirring constantly, for about 1 minute. Remove from heat gradually stir in milk.
Return to heat; cook until thickened and bubbly.

Fold in ham, onion, green pepper and cheese. Pour over potatoes in a large bowl.
Stir gently then move into a buttered 13X9-inch baking dish; cover with foil.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Uncover and continue to bake for 1 hour.
Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Nancy

I like cheese in my scalloped potatoes. These are my two "go to" recipes.

Potato Gratin
Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 1 cup)

1 clove garlic, halved
Cooking Spray
1 c onion, chopped
6 medium sized baking potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/8 inch slices
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
3/4 c extra sharp cheddar, grated
1/4 c romano cheese, grated
1-3/4 c chicken broth
1 c evaporated milk

Preheat oven to 425

Rub a shallow 3 qt casserole with cut sides of garlic halves, discard garlic. Coat dish with cooking spray.

Coat a non-stick skillet with cooking spray, place over medium heat until hot. Add Onion and saut� 5 minutes or until tender., set aside.

Arrange 1/3 of potato slices in prepared casserole, sprinkle with half the salt and half of the pepper. Top with half of the onions and half of the cheeses. Repeat layers, ending with potato slices.

Bring broth and milk to a boil over low heat in a small saucepan. Pour over potatoes. Bake, uncovered for 50 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Ann has shared her recipe a few times before, and for some reason, I always thought the two-pronged approach was much too complicated for me. Then in March I decided to give it a try. I cooked the thinly sliced potatoes in a pan with some low sodium chicken broth and once they started releasing their starch, added some cream and turned them out into a greased casserole. I discovered that the advantage was that the potatoes cooked much faster on the stove top and only needed a few minutes in the oven, just for crisping up the top. I liked the method so much that I continued to make "scalloped" potatoes throughout the summer, eliminating the oven step altogether. I'd just sprinkle the potatoes in the pan with browned & seasoned breadcrumbs.

All that to say this -- even though there's an extra step, it's not hard and makes it easy to get scalloped potatoes ready to serve in half the time of baking from raw. Here's my tale:

Here is a link that might be useful: Scalloped Potatoes

Thanks for posting your guidelines and personal preferences everyone!

Honestly, I don't cook using cans, envelopes, boxes etc. This is the only thing I can think of where I open a can of soup and cook with it. My disappointment with a lot of slow-cooker and pot roast recipes are can of soup and envelope of onion soup mix. Yuck. I pass by those in a hurry.

Shambo, I wondered how much more time it would take to par-boil the potatoes first, and I've been intrigued by that method. Thanks for explaining it.

So many good ideas here, I'm looking forward to incorporating them in my potatoes, tomorrow.

Jude, I see you use a cast-iron skillet same as Ann does. I only thought of potatoes Anna in using a skillet. I typically make my scalloped potatoes in a large casserole, and even my larger Pampered Chef bakeware. Leftovers are good, LOL!

Oh my, annt, the scalloped potatoes in the cast iron skillet look out of this world!!!!