Thursday, March 29, 2012

Cheese Potatoes

I know I haven't updated in a while, but I felt now was the time to pick things up and move forward with my blog. Lots has happened but no point in rehashing the last few months (or however long its really been). So I'm just going to jump right in for now and update past events as needed. On the update note, my laptop keyboard is broken and the J, K and L keys don't work so there has been one big reason for now wanting to type. Having a bluetooth keyboard helps but didn't encourage me to do updates. I am just sucking it up right now until I can get a new laptop.

I made cheese potatoes the other night. These are one of my husband's favorite dishes from his family. In fact, I am pretty sure they can't do a Sunday night meal without them. Although he didn't really ask me to make them he did mention missing them but felt they were too much work to ask for. Actually they aren't that much work, but require a long baking time. So I did learn several things in making these for the first time (having watched his mother make them several times). One, non-stick spray is your best friend. Spray the pan, spray the foil and spray under the foil. Two, do not over fill the pan. I thought I had room for one more layer, but once I made the layer I realized I didn't have room but there was no going back. Three, spray a cookie sheet with non-stick spray, cover with foil and spray the foil. Because I was too full in my pan, yes I boiled over but luckily I learned from watching his mom to have a catch pan and foil covered at that. Four, this takes a lot longer to cook then I thought it did. I thought two hours on 350F would be fine, but no, three hours would have been better and four would probably have been perfect. We are really looking for a nice crisp bottom and sides and everything to cook down a bit. Five, this takes a lot of milk. I made a small 9 inch pan and it took a lot of milk to cover everything in the pan. Six, sharp cheddar at the least and extra sharp would have made it better. Don't use medium, it just doesn't have enough kick to it. At least I can say I used enough cheese though. The potatoes were just dripping in it, more so than his mom's version. So while I have a few things to correct next time, I feel confident I can make these taste closer to the real thing. But then she has had years perfecting the recipe and I am just starting. Plus my husband will likely always be biased about this dish.

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