Friday, March 4, 2011

Au Gratin Potatoes

Last week, I ate some au gratin potatoes at the Pastors' Appreciation Dinner in town - yummy. So I decided I had to make some.  I don't recall ever making this recipe before, so here goes! Adam found a recipe online, which I generally followed.  Kind of. (And don't ask why this one picture is to the left. You don't want to know. I've been fighting with my html, and if I could have a go at those little potatoes down there again right now, they would be massacred! All bloggers out there will understand.)
I used 3 large white potatoes.  Four of us were eating. Peter is gone on a youth retreat.

I sliced them fairly thin. I did peel them, because I don't like peels in this recipe, but the online recipe said not to peel them. What do they know? I'm the one eating them!
I liked how this recipe makes the cheese sauce -- 2 tblsp of butter in a saucepan, and then add a chopped onion to the butter and simmer them. Add a tblsp of flour, a tsp of salt and some pepper, and stir as it bubbles nicely, softening the onions. I didn't use enough onions. Remove from heat. Add a 1 1/2 cups of milk, and 2 cups of grated cheddar cheese, and return to heat, bringing to a boil. Boil, stirring, for a minute, melting cheese and thickening the sauce. Then pour this on top of your sliced potatoes, in a casserole dish:


Bake in a 375º oven for an hour, until tender. Sprinkle more grated cheese on top, and allow to brown lightly. Serve.
We had this with Clementine Chicken, and it was so delicious. The family definitely wants these potatoes again.
With more onions.

2 comments:

Pom Pom said...

Oh, they look wonderful! What a perfect dinner!

Michelle DeRusha said...

Total comfort food -- sounds awesome!