Cheddar Scalloped Potatoes

So my first comment has to be that I do not know how to follow a recipe!! ;-)

I found this recipe on RecipeZaar.com. It calls for 1 cup of cheddar and then 1/2 cup grated Parm on top. Somehow, I read this as 2 cups of cheddar! So that's what I used and thought it felt a little thick when stirring, but I went with it.

Because of how much thicker the sauce turned out with the extra cheese, I poured a little more light cream on top and stirred it in with the sauce.........then after it had baked for about 40 minutes, I felt the sauce was still too thick - though quite tasty! - so I added another 1 cup of skim milk and mixed it up, then put it back in for the last 20 minutes.

The recipe below has the total amount of milk/cream added at the beginning, to correct my "mistake".

Also, I skipped the Parmesan topper because I wasn't necessarily going for ultra-cheesy potatoes.


So here is my inadvertently modified version of Scalloped Potatoes:

Ingredients:

• 4 cups thinly sliced potatoes (I used my Cuisinart food processor, which sliced the potatoes thin-ish, but I heard using a mandolin is better. Have to get me one of those!)
• 3 tablespoons margarine
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 3 cups milk (I used 1-3/4 cups skim milk and 1-1/4 cups light cream)
• 1 teaspoon Nature's Seasons seasoning salt
• 1 dash cayenne pepper
• 2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese (I used 1/2 cup sharp cheddar and 1-1/2 cups "taco blend" because it's what I had!)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. In a small sauce pan, melt butter and blend in flour.
3. Let sit for a minute.
4. Add cold milk/cream, stirring with a whisk.
   
5. Add seasoning salt and cayenne.
6. Cook sauce on medium until smooth and boiling, stirring occasionally with a whisk.
7. Reduce heat and stir in cheese.
8. Place a half of the sliced potatoes in a lightly greased casserole dish **I sprinkled with black pepper and some dried minced onion**.
9. Pour half of cheese sauce over potatoes.
10. Repeat with second layer of potatoes and cheese sauce.
11. Top with some paprika for color, if desired (I skipped this because of the seasonings in the taco blend cheese).
12. Bake uncovered for about 1 hour (or until potatoes are soft and sauce is bubbly and brown.

Bill thought this dish was paired very well with my Baked Garlic Parmesan Chicken (shown below)