Completely Decadent Scalloped Potatoes

Oh man. I need to stop eating scalloped potatoes. But then again, it's awfully freezing in that meat locker I call home, so maybe I'll just keep eating them in the hopes of growing some extra fat to keep m'self warm.

Without further adieu, here is how I made 'em, entirely from leftover Thanksgiving day ingredients.

1. The Herb Butter - to refresh your memory, ya just take 1 stick of butter and bring it to room temperature so it's easy to blend the herbs into it. The herbs will be whatever you happened to have lying around - in this case, I used the classics: Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme. Chop 'em fine and add about a couple of tablespoons of herbs to the butter. Also add about a teaspoon of finely grated lemon zest, a sprinkling of kosher salt, and about a teaspoon or two of finely minced shallot. Now you're done. See? That was easy.

2. The leftover ingredients - 3-4 cloves of chopped garlic, a good 6 - 8 light handfuls of breadcrumbs, another good 6 - 8 light handfuls of parmesan and just under 1 cup of heavy cream (though you can use milk, or half & half, or even broth if you wanna cut back on the decadence).

3. The Potatoes - peel about 8 - 10 medium sized russet potatoes. I think I used something close to about 4 pounds worth. Once you've peeled them, keep them in a pot of water so they don't discolor.

Next, slice them super thin - for this, I used my trusty mandoline. You don't need to pay a lot of money for a mandoline; I got mine at Target for like $10. It's a handy contraption for the aforementioned super thin slicing.

Now, let's get back to that yummy herb butter. Take little pea-sized dollops of it and dot them all over the bottom of your casserole dish. I used the rectangular kind of casserole dish. Now add a layer of potatoes, a light sprinkling of the chopped garlic, some salt and pepper, a sprinkling of parmesan and a sprinkling of bread crumbs.

Next add another layer of potatoes and keep repeating this process till you've used up all your potatoes and all your herb butter, garlic, parmesan and bread crumbs.

Next, drizzle some heavy cream over your innocent little potato friends, thereby sending them into decadent land! The trick is to add enough to coat the potatoes liberally, but not drown them. I'd say about 1/2 to 3/4 cup is just right.

Now cover tightly with foil and bake at 375 degrees for about 30 - 40 minutes. Then take off the foil and bake for another 15 - 20 minutes so the top will get nice & golden brown.

Oh yeah, come to mama. Next time you see me, in addition to my Beer baby, I'll be carrying a scalloped potato baby. You'll either run to me, or run screaming...but you're gonna love these potatoes!