Creamy Scalloped Potatoes

My mom was raised in Shelley, Idaho, and her school mascot was a potato.  Yes, I'm serious.  It just made me laugh at loud thinking that there was a giant potato running around at their football games.  I think I would be a little irked at the end of football games because I would be craving some sort of delicious potato side dish after watching that potato dance the Crazy Chicken throughout the whole game.  This dish here would definitely be one that I would crave.  Potatoes are an amazing vegetable, and there are so many delicious things to do with them.   You can never, ever go wrong with potatoes drenched in cream, cheese, and cream cheese!  Shoot!  That's the best of all worlds, in my opinion.  

Note: There is nothing low-fat about this recipe.  However, you are getting a vegetable with all the extra fattening additions.  :)

Creamy Scalloped Potatoes:

source: The Pioneer Woman Cooks by Ree Drummond

1/2 stick butter

5 medium russet potatoes (sorry Shelley Mascot!  You are all ours now!)

1 c half and half

1 c heavy cream

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 medium onion, chopped

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1/2 t salt

pepper, to taste

2 T minced Rosemary leaves (2 t dried)

3 green onions, chopped

1 c freshly grated Parmesan cheese

3 T minced chives

Preheat the oven to 350.  Spread some softened butter into a 9x13 pan.  

                                       

Slice the mascot, I mean the potatoes, very thin.  Luckily, my awesome dad got me a meat slicer for Christmas a couple years ago for Christmas, and it slices potatoes like butta'.  Seriously though, for them to be cooked properly, they should be sliced very thin.

Mix half of the 1/2 and 1/2 and half of the cream, and pour it over the sliced potatoes.  That's a lot of halves to take in for one sentence.

 Next, melt 1/4 c of butter in a skillet and add the chopped onion and garlic.  Cook over medium-high heat for about four minutes.

 Add the brick of softened cream cheese, and lower the heat to medium.  Cook and stir it until the cream cheese is melted.

 Add the other half of the 1/2 and 1/2 and cream.  Stir it in.  I actually switched to a whisk to better incorporate it.

 Add the rosemary and chopped green onion.  Stir it to combine.

 Add half of the shredded Parmesan cheese and stir again until the cheese is melted.

 Plop the potatoes into your buttered dish.  Pour the cream, cheese, cream cheese mixture over the top.  mmm... Sprinkle with the remaining shredded Parmesan cheese.  Bake for 90 minutes.  Trust me here... Those potatoes take forever to cook.  You can check it after 60 minutes, but I'm willing to bet that they'll need a little extra time.  Keep checking them until the potatoes are tender.  When they're done, sprinkle with chopped chives.

Serve to hungry, happy people.  If they aren't happy, they will be after tasting these.  In fact, I put them on the table, turned around to get my camera, and by the time I went to take a picture, half of them were already gone.  Good riddance, russet.