Granny’s Apple Scalloped Potatoes

End of June and we have seen three houses with the realtor and none of them were right and I understand now why people say house hunting is demoralizing. The houses are either what we can afford and not what we want or what we want and not what we can afford. This is the universal truth about buying something. The Venn diagram of desire and budget is an art project with two circles that do not overlap.

Nora had her fifteen-month checkup. Twenty-three pounds, thirty-one inches, all motor skills well ahead of schedule, vocabulary at fourteen words which her pediatrician said is above average for fifteen months. I said she talks a lot. The pediatrician said "that is consistent with the data." I said that is the most doctor thing anyone has ever said to me and he laughed, which he doesn't always. Nora spent the checkup trying to dismantle the paper on the exam table and did not appreciate the vaccination. She was fine within four minutes. She has a short memory for things that inconvenience her. This is a gift.

The Fourth of July is next week and my family does it big -- the whole extended thing, the Southie location, the barbecue and the harbor view and the fireworks that you can see from the right rooftop. I have been going to this version of the Fourth since I was three years old. I am bringing my children. This continues.

Made my grandmother's potato salad for a test run -- she kept the recipe in her head and I have been approximating it for ten years. I think I finally got the celery seed ratio right. It tasted like her kitchen. I sat down on a Tuesday and just sat there.

Getting the potato salad right sent me looking back through everything else my grandmother used to make, and this one kept coming up in my memory — that sweet-savory thing she did with potatoes and apple that I never thought to write down either. With the Fourth coming up and the whole extended family expecting something that tastes like it always has, I figured this was the year to stop approximating and actually commit. It’s warm and a little unexpected, and it’s exactly the kind of dish that makes a rooftop barbecue feel like it belongs to the people who came before you.

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 1 hour | Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes | Servings: 8

Ingredients

3 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced (about 1/8 inch)
2 medium tart apples (such as Granny Smith), peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided, plus more for dish
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole milk, warmed
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided

Instructions

Preheat and prepare. Heat oven to 375°F. Butter a 9x13-inch baking dish generously and set aside.
Make the cream sauce. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Gradually whisk in the warm milk and heavy cream. Cook, stirring, until the sauce thickens slightly, about 4–5 minutes. Season with salt, pepper, nutmeg, and thyme. Remove from heat.
Sauté the onion. Melt the remaining 1 tablespoon butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the sliced onion and cook until softened and just beginning to turn golden, about 6 minutes. Remove from heat.
Layer the dish. Arrange half the potato slices in the prepared baking dish, overlapping slightly. Layer half the apple slices over the potatoes, then half the sautéed onion. Sprinkle with 1/3 cup of the cheddar. Repeat layers with the remaining potatoes, apples, and onion.
Add sauce and cheese. Pour the cream sauce evenly over the top of the layered dish. Scatter the remaining 2/3 cup cheddar over the surface.
Bake covered. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 40 minutes.
Finish uncovered. Remove foil and bake an additional 20 minutes, until the top is golden and bubbling and the potatoes are completely tender when pierced with a knife.
Rest before serving. Let stand 10 minutes before serving so the sauce sets slightly.

Nutrition (per serving)

Granny’s Apple Scalloped Potatoes — The Taste That Takes You Back to Her Kitchen