Ingredients

• 5 medium to large potatoes sliced 1/8″ thick
• 2 medium yams sliced 1/8″ thick
• 3 tbsp bacon fat or butter
• 1 small onion or 2 large shallots diced
• 1 large clove garlic minced
• 5 sprigs of thyme stripped
• 1 sprig of rosemary chopped
• 3 tbsp flour
• 2 cups milk
• 1-1/2 cup gruyere cheese shredded
• 1/2 cup parmesan or asiago shredded
• 1 tsp nutmeg or mace
• Salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350F
2. Peel the yams & depending on the type of potato, peel them as well. Using a mandolin or knife, slice the potatoes and yams to 1/8″ thickness. My potatoes were fresh from the garden so I patted them dry with paper towel so as not to add to much extra moisture to the sauce.
3. Place them in the roasting pan to ensure you have enough for the roasting pan you are using. I used a 9″ x 9″ pan. Once you are sure you have enough, remove your stacks and wipe the pan dry.
4. Begin making the sauce by melting the bacon fat or butter over medium heat.
5. Add the onions and sauté until they are tender and light golden in colour.
6. Add the minced garlic and herbs and continue to cook for another minute.
7. Add the flour to the mixture and stir well with a spatula or whisk until the flour has incorporated to a thick golden coloured loose paste. Approx. 1 minute.
8. Add the milk and continue stirring over medium heat until the sauce begins to thicken slightly.
9. Add half the cheese and mix until melted & incorporated. Add the rest of the cheese and repeat until all the cheese is melted and you have a thick sauce. If it seems too thick, add a bit more milk. You don’t want it too thick as it will thicken as it bakes as well.
10. Add the nutmeg or mace, salt & pepper.
11. Spread a thin layer of the sauce over the bottom of the pan. Start adding your potatoes. If you are standing them up like I have, then dip each potato in the sauce before placing in the pan. This will ensure that the cheesy herb sauce is evenly distributed. If doing layers like a traditional scalloped potato, add sauce between each layer of potatoes that you add.
12. Pour any remaining sauce over the dish. Sprinkle the top with the parmesan cheese.
13. Bake in the oven until the potatoes are tender, approx. 50 minutes.
14. Enjoy the bubbly, herby, cheesy goodness!

Chit Chat Portion

It is Thanksgiving here, and we are enjoying the sunny, cool days this weekend with some fishing and family time. We enjoyed a delicious Thanksgiving dinner with family last night and I took a new side dish, which was a play on scalloped potatoes.

We have an abundance of potatoes and herbs, so I thought it would be great to add a bunch of those herbs into the dish to add some extra flavour. I also went with gruyere cheese and bacon fat to really bring some delicious flavours together. I save all bacon fat throughout the year and love substituting it into savoury recipes. It adds an extra flavour to the dish. I don’t bother rendering it because I am not using it for baking and would prefer to retain as much of that bacon flavour as possible.

I also decided to add the yams to the dish because I personally love them and thought it would work well with the cheesy sauce. It also gave a pretty look to the dish.

Apparently I wasn’t the only one doing some plays and adjustments on elements of the dinner. My mom also decided to do some yorkshire puddings with dinner instead of the traditional buns. Yum yum! I was definitely in a coma after such a delicious dinner of yorkshires, stuffing, potatoes, ham, turkey, brussels sprouts, roasted butternut squash and carrots.

Hopefully you enjoy this dish as much as we did!