My White Sauce Scalloped Potatoes...

  
For this recipe, you make a white sauce for the filling from the flour and cream. Once the white sauce is made, add the cheese to make
a cheese sauce. This makes a creamy casserole.
This can be made without the cheese for scalloped potatoes. This is a basic recipe. Other

ingredients may be added as desired though this is a good dish in its basic form. You may add any of the following ingredients:

• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 bell pepper, finely diced • 1 small can diced green chilies
• 1/2 pound bacon, crisply cooked and snipped into pieces
• 1 1/2 cups ham cut into small cubes

Basic recipe
2 cups milk
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup cream
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper pinch nutmeg
2 to 2 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese
7 to 8 cups of sliced russet potatoes, 1/8-inch thick 1/2 cup grated cheese


Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9 x 13-inch baking pan.
1. Make a white sauce with the milk and flour: Pour the milk into a heavy saucepan. Place the flour in a cup. Add just enough milk to make a paste. Gradually add more milk, stirring to thin the paste into a sauce- like consistency. Stir the flour and milk mixture
into the milk with a whisk. Add the cream and heat, stirring with a whisk, until the sauce is thickened and starts to bubble.
2. Add the salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Add the cheese

while still hot and stir
in. The cheese should melt and form a medium- thick cheese sauce. Keep the sauce hot while you prepare the potatoes.
3. Peel and slice the potatoes to 1/8-inch thick. Use a mandolin or other cutting tool so that the potatoes are of uniform thickness.
4. Place a layer of potatoes in the pan. Pour a portion of the hot cheese sauce over the potato layer. Repeat with additional layers until the potatoes and cheese sauce is used.

5. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup cheese over the casserole.
6. Bake for 50 minutes or until the potatoes are tender but still firm when poked with a fork.