Wonderful dinner

Last week, M’hijito had me over for a delightful meal at his house. The guy can really cook. I think I mentioned the amazing potato pie he made. At the outset, he’d said we’d scallop some potatoes. This was the upshot:

It was one of the tastiest potato anythings that I have ever enjoyed. He didn’t follow a recipe; he just made it up as he went. Here, approximately, is how it came together:

You need:

• 2 Idaho potatoes, thinly sliced
• a small red onion, thinly sliced
• a handful of chives
• 1 or 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
• leaves from a sprig of rosemary
• butter
• heavy cream
• a pastry brush
• an oven-proof pan 

Melt a fair amount of butter—probably half a cube or more. Slice the potatoes an onions thin—a mandoline helps with this. 

Arrange a layer of potato slices in the bottom of the pan. Brush a generous amount of melted butter over the top. Sprinkle on some chopped garlic, and arrange some of the sliced onion over the potatoes. Add another layer of potato slices. Brush butter over these. Add remaining onion, and place a handful of whole fresh chive leaves (no need to cut them up) over the top of this layer. Now top the dish with another layer of sliced potatoes. Add cream, but don’t smother the top layer in cream. Sprinkle rosemary leaves over the top.

Bake in a 375-degree oven about 45 minutes or an hour, until scrumptiously brown and crisp on top.

Along with the potato pie, he served grilled Costco steaks and sea scallops, wrapped in bacon. With a bottle of wine, it made an awesome dinner.