Scalloped Potatoes

In an effort to use some potatoes I had lying around, I found this recipe to make scalloped potatoes.  As it turned out, I had all the ingredients.  Well...kind of had the ingredients.  Actually, I had to substitute some things because I didn't have everything the recipe called for.  I'll explain in a little bit...

SCALLOPED POTATOES

INGREDIENTS:

2 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1-1/2 cups fat-free milk

1/2 cup shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese

1-3/4 pounds potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced (about 5 medium)

1 medium onion, halved and thinly sliced

DIRECTIONS:

In a small nonstick skillet, melt butter. Stir in the flour, salt and pepper until smooth; gradually add milk. Bring to a boil. Cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from the heat; stir in cheese until blended.

Place half of the potatoes in a 1-1/2-qt. baking dish coated with cooking spray; layer with half of the onion and cheese sauce. Repeat layers.

Cover and bake at 350° for 50 minutes. Uncover; bake 10-15 minutes longer or until bubbly and potatoes are tender.

Yield: 6 servings.

PERSONAL NOTES:

Well... a few things:  As I was preparing to make this dish, I discovered I had no more flour.  NONE.  So I had this idea of using ground cornmeal as a substitute.  The same stuff I use to make polenta. 

Then I used fat free half and half because I had it on hand.  And instead of using cheddar cheese (because again, I had none), I chose to use Monterey Jack cheese.  Then I doubled the amount of cheese. 

Finally, for the onion I used a bunch of scallions.  Again, I used them because I had them. Oh, the potatoes.  I used 2 new potatoes and 2 sweet potatoes.  As I said, these were all items I had on hand. 

As I was mixing the milk/cheese sauce I noticed that the mixture was super soupy.  So I added in another tablespoon of cornmeal.  Then once it thickened, it thickened in a serious way.  Like, maybe I shouldn't have used that extra tablespoon of cornmeal.  Anyway... I put the whole kit and caboodle together and it looked great. 

Once it baked up, the sweet potatoes and cornmeal gave it a golden/orange color.  And while the sauce thickened to a cornbread-like consistency, the whole dish tasted great.  So, I'm not sure these would pass as your traditional scalloped potatoes, but they are really delicious.  My husband tested them too and liked them.  I'll be making these again.