Friday, March 02, 2007

Au Gratin Potatoes

Flavorful, creamy and tender-- without tons of milk or butter! I didn't keep them in the oven long enough to get nice and crispy on top. If you cut the potatoes thin enough, the baking time is not very long (little under an hour). I served these with steak.



Serves 4
1 hour 20 minutes
400 F
-8 x 12 pan
-medium small saucepan
Easy

INGREDIENTS
3-4 large russet potatoes, scrubbed and thinly sliced
10-15 green onions, sliced
Sauce:
2 tbsp. butter* or margarine **EDIT if you are using real cheddar cheese DON'T add in the butter-- will make things very greasy! **
3 tbsp. GF flour, any will work.. I used white sorghum
2 tbsp. mayonnaise*
one 14 oz. can Swanson chicken broth* -or- GF vegetable broth
garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, ground black pepper, parsley?
1-2 c. cheese* of choice (probably sharp cheddar or Colby jack, but any other will work)
*I used Earth Balance buttery sticks and Galaxy Nutritional Foods cheddar rice 'cheese' to make this dairy free. All McCormick spices are GF. Hellman's mayo is GF, I used Kraft mayo with no problems. Original Swanson chicken broth is GF (both ready to serve and natural goodness; DO NOT use the 'flavored with __' broth, it contains gluten!).

DIRECTIONS
1. Scrub russet potatoes and green onions; don't bother peeling the potatoes. Thinly cut up potatoes into 1/8th inch slices. Also slice up entire green onions, including green tops (discard bottommost tip).
2. Place the potato slices in a bowl of cold water and let sit for 5 minutes.
3. Pour out water and place potato slices into 8 x 12 rectangular pan, sprinkling generously with green onions every layer or so. Repeat until all potatoes and onion are layered (to about a depth of 2 inches). Set aside near range. Preheat oven to 350 F.
Sauce:
4. Place butter in a medium saucepan over LOW heat. When butter is melted (not scalding) add in flour of choice and mix till smooth.
5. Add in mayo, stir until no longer 'clumpy'.
6. Pour broth into saucepan over butter-flour mixture. Stir. Turn up heat to medium. Add in any remaining spices (such as garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, pepper, and parsley).
7. Continue stirring until sauce comes to a boil (around 5 minutes).
8. Remove from heat and quickly stir in cheese of choice until melted and creamy.
9. Pour/spoon sauce over waiting potatoes/onion layered pan. The sauce will be slightly thick and appear to sit on top.. that is okay.. DO NOT add in more water.. it will gain water when cooking.
10. Cover pan tightly with Aluminum foil and place in preheated oven (400 F).
11. Cook covered for 30 minutes and uncovered for another 20-30 minutes, until potatoes are tender, crispy on top and sauce is generous and bubbly. (Careful with hot steam when removing foil)
12. Remove from oven and sprinkle with more cheese, if desired. Let sit 5 or so minutes for sauce to thicken and cool. Eat warm with steak or porkchops.

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