Cheesy Potatoes

Years ago, we went to my mom's house for dinner and she served us Utah's famous Funeral Potatoes. My kids had never had them and THEY HATED THEM!

Recently, I wanted to make a special dinner for my son and asked what he wanted. He requested steak, cheesy potatoes and salad. I said "Funeral Potatoes?" he gave me a face and said "no, cheesy potatoes." He described them and again, I said "Funeral Potatoes." He specified - no canned soup, no cereal on the top - all the good stuff. We found the recipe of the EXACT potatoes he wanted and I made them!

WE ALL LOVED THEM! We have steak, some kind of potato and salad almost every Sunday (that's the way my husband and kids like it) so we are potato aficionados - LOL. Sweet Potato Casserole - Pommes Anna - Roasted Potatoes - Mashed Potatoes - Baked Potatoes - Scalloped Potatoes - you get the picture!!

I had to break the original recipe down from a 10 pound batch - and the easiest way to do it was in ounces - so bear with me...

Cheesy Potatoes

2 1/2 lbs shredded hashbrowns
12 oz onions, diced
3 oz butter
8 oz cheddar cheese, shredded
1/4 c flour
8 oz sour cream
2-3 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 c milk
1/2 c heavy cream

Melt butter over medium heat in a large saute pan, add onions, salt and pepper and cook until translucent. Add flour and incorporate - cook for 2 minutes to get rid of the floury taste. Add milk and cream, whisk until smooth. Cook until it starts to thicken.

Remove from heat, add sour cream, mix well. 

In a large bowl, add mixture to potatoes and cheese - stir until incorporated.

Put everything in a 9 x 13 casserole dish. Cook at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

CHEATER Decadent Mashed Potatoes

CHEATER Decadent Mashed Potatoes

4 trays Bistro brand Mashed Potatoes (Costco)
¾ cups Butter (1 1/2 sticks)
1 package (8 Oz.) Cream Cheese, Softened
½ cups (to 3/4 Cups) Half-and-Half
½ teaspoons (to 1 Teaspoon) Lawry's Seasoned Salt
½ teaspoons (to 1 Teaspoon) Black Pepper

Dump the mashed potatoes out of their containers into a large dutch oven. On Thanksgiving, we put them into our 7 QT crock pot. Break the potatoes up over medium heat.

In a separate smaller pot, add 1 ½ sticks of butter, an 8-ounce package of cream cheese and about ½ cup of half-and-half,  ½ teaspoon of Lawry’s Seasoning Salt and ½ a teaspoon of black pepper. Heat this up so you are not mixing cold ingredients into the warm potatoes.

Add warm liquid mixture to the potatoes and stir to incorporate, place in a medium-sized baking dish. Throw a few pats of butter over the top of the potatoes and place them in a 350-degree oven and heat until butter is melted and potatoes are warmed through.

OR, if you are serving them straight from the crock pot like we do, just add the warm liquid to the potatoes, stir to incorporate and set on low for as long as you need to!!

Pommes Anna

Pommes Anna

For the garlic herb butter:

½ C (114g) unsalted butter

3 cloves garlic, minced

3 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

2 tsp finely chopped fresh thyme leaves

1 tsp kosher salt (use 2 tsp if using Diamond Crystal brand)

Black pepper to taste

For the Potato Stacks:

3 lb (1360g) yellow or Yukon Gold potatoes, sliced 1/16” thick

12 small sprigs of fresh thyme

½ C (50g) grated parmesan cheese

Neutral oil for brushing muffin tin

To finish:

Flakey salt such as Maldon salt 

Preheat oven to 375f (190c). Lightly brush the cups of a 12-cup muffin tin with oil. If you happen to have a 6-cup muffin tin, you can stretch the amount of potatoes to make up to 18 stacks. Otherwise, pile stacks up high for 12 slightly heaped stacks, keeping in mind the potatoes sink down as they cook.

Melt butter and stir in garlic, parsley, chopped thyme, salt and black pepper. Set aside to cool.

Slice potatoes with skin on, very thinly about 1/16”. I highly recommend using a mandolin to get super thin slices of potatoes in relatively little time. Evenly-thick slices are important for even cooking. If you don’t have a mandolin, slice carefully with a sharp knife. Place sliced potatoes in a large mixing bowl and toss with cooled garlic herb butter.

Assemble potato stacks. In each oiled muffin cup, place a small sprig of thyme, followed by slices of potatoes starting with smaller pieces and ending with the larger pieces. About 1/3 and 2/3 of the way up the stack, sprinkle a bit of grated parmesan. For the prettiest stacks, stagger potato slices a little rather than matching them up in a neat column. Divide evenly among the 12 cups. It’s okay if the potato stacks are a little taller than the rim of the muffin cups because they will sink down as they cook.

Cover muffin tin tightly with foil. Bake in preheated 375f oven for 25 minutes or whenever potatoes are tender (use a skewer to poke one stack to check – the skewer should easily slide all the way through and back out). Increase oven heat to 425f. Remove foil and return to bake uncovered for 8 - 10 minutes more, or whenever edges are browned and crispy, and tops are golden brown. Keep a close eye on them during the final few minutes of browning.

Use a soup spoon to make sure the edges are loose and dislodge the stacks from the muffin tin. Serve upside down (with thyme sprig facing up) with a sprinkle of flaky salt.

*Set the mandolin to "0", 3 lbs will be enough for 2 12 cup muffin pans. I added parmesan after the 3rd or 4th layer and then again after 3 layers making sure there were layers on top of the parmesan so it wouldn't stick. I also just used PAM to spray the cups.

Perfect Baked Potatoes

We had our Back to School dinner tonight. My husband is a meat and potatoes kinda guy - and so are our kids. Me - not so much LOL. The theme was "SUCCESS is the sum of small efforts repeated day in and day out" like "an apple a day" so our meal was based on apples.

We had pork tenderloin, baked potatoes (with sides served in apple dishes) and one of my favorite salads Blue Cheese, Apple & Grapes salad and hot apple crumble pie with vanilla ice cream - what a way to start the school year!!

Russet Potatoes - 1 per person
Butter
Kosher salt

Perfect Baked Potatoes

Scrub each potato clean and poke at least 10 times with a fork. Set on a sheet pan with aluminum foil and a wire cooling rack.

Bake for 25 minutes at 450 degrees. 

Remove from oven and brush with butter and sprinkle generously with kosher salt on the side facing up. Flip the potatoes over and repeat the process. The salt sticks better if you butter and then salt each one immediately before moving on to the next one.

Put them back in the oven for 40 minutes. Using an oven mitt or paper towel and squeeze gently to check for doneness. 

Serve with bacon, chives, sour cream, and cheese for the perfect bite!!

Christmas Scalloped Potatoes

This is REALLY GENIUS - not to brag. We have had Costco's Main Street Bistro's scalloped potatoes before - quite a bit. My kids really love them. They are delicious and can be made in 8 minutes in the microwave - how can you go wrong?

A couple of the kids asked to have them for Christmas dinner but since Christmas dinner is a special occasion I wanted to do something to kick them up - and it was SO EASY!! These potatoes are getting a permanent spot on our Christmas dinner plate from now on!

This year we did 4 trays - but we definitely could get away with just doing 2 next year. To make sure they are warmed all the way through, we followed the package directions and microwaved them for 8 minutes. When they were done warming through, we put them in a nice 9 x 13 casserole dish. You have to manipulate them to lay in an even layer. Do as many trays as needed and add them to the dish once warmed. 

The KICK IT UP part? We shredded gruyere cheese and sprinkled it in an even layer over the top. I put it in a 400 degree oven with the carrots for about 30 minutes and they were heated through and had that golden cheese moment on top! Seriously so good!!

 

Fastest Baked Potatoes in the West

My husband wanted steak, baked potatoes and salad for his birthday dinner. I was running short on time so I cheated a bit...

Originally I posted a picture of the potato dressed - tonight I took one of another dinner we had when the potato was naked so you could see how beautiful it is!! 

Fastest Baked Potatoes in the West

Russet potatoes (as many as you need - as close in size as possible)

Olive Oil

Kosher Salt

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees

Scrub your potatoes. Pat dry. Cut in half put on cookie sheet cut side down. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with Kosher salt. Roast for 25 minutes.

Mindi's Sweet Potato Casserole

I've eaten this casserole every year we've had Thanksgiving with my husbands family for the last 20+ years. It's so basic - but really good.

Mindi's Sweet Potato Casserole
Sweet Potatoes - one potato per person, make sure they're sweet potatoes not yams
Pats of cold butter
Brown sugar

Boil the sweet potatoes for 15 to 20 minutes - until fork tender. Let them cool. Peel and slice them.

Put one layer of sweet potatoes on the bottom of a 9 x 13 casserole dish, layer with butter cubes, sprinkle with brown sugar and repeat (3 layers in total).

Bake at 350 for 15 to 20 minutes until the brown sugar and butter are melted.

Potato Gratin with Gruyere, Horseradish & Sweet Onion

I saw Geoffrey Zakarian make this on a recent episode of The Kitchen on Food Network. It looked so delicious - and it really was!

His tip was to buy FRESH horseradish - because if you use the bottled kind - the vinegar in it will curdle the cream sauce.

Potato Gratin with Gruyere, Horseradish & Sweet Onion
2 cups heavy cream
1 c half and half
1/2 c grated FRESH horseradish
1/2 t grated nutmeg
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1 Vidalia or sweet onion, sliced as thinly as possible
Salt and pepper to taste
3 lbs Yukon gold potatoes sliced about 1/8" thick
2 c grated Gruyere
1 c breadcrumbs

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Put the cream, half-and-half, horseradish, nutmeg, garlic and onion in a medium saucepan and slowly bring the mixture to a simmer. Be sure to stir on occasion to prevent scorching. Season with salt and pepper. In a 9-by-13-inch baking dish, spoon a thin layer of the cream and onion mixture onto the bottom. Layer the potatoes, followed by a sprinkle of cheese. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Repeat this process until the dish is filled and the gratin is moist. Combine the breadcrumbs and thyme and sprinkle on top. Bake until the potatoes are tender and the gratin is caramelized on top and bubbly on the edges, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Allow to cool slightly before serving. 

*At this point - we were SO OVER Holiday food - BUT this recipe is seriously AMAZING - so... I ended up making the leftovers into a soup. I put the leftovers into my blender with a 1/2 - 1 cup chicken broth (or whatever you have on hand) the amount of liquid depends on the consistency you want for your soup. 

Luxurious. Decadent. If you're going to go for it - GET IT!

Roasted Potatoes

Just going to jot this quick and easy 'non-recipe' for my kids favorite roasted recipe bc I was going to link to it and realized that because it isn't really a recipe - I haven't posted it before. I'll take pictures as soon as I can.

Roasted Potatoes
Red potatoes, quartered (bite sizedish)
Kosher salt & fresh cracked black pepper
Good evoo

Wash the potatoes well (you can peel them, but I don't). Cut them into bite sized pieces. Put in a large bowl and drizzle with evoo, salt and pepper. Toss them with your hands to coat fully.

Bake on 400 for about 60 minutes - turning the potatoes once halfway through. They are crispy on the outside, tender on the inside and nice and salty. SO GOOD! I know every time I make these - the kids will have seconds and thirds of them so I make a lot (which I why I didn't give you specific measurements).

Perfect Fingerling Potatoes

Sounds fancy shcmancy doesn't it? It's so easy you'll be amazed. I love to use fingerling potatoes to mix it up a bit. First, I love the way they look - the purple ones are my favorite. I wish I would've taken a picture of the inside of one of the purple potatoes - they are a brilliant amethyst color - breath taking.

I also love to use fingerling potatoes b/c you don't have to peel them or cut them and they cook really fast b/c of their size. I got this recipe from Alton Brown several years ago - he hasn't let me down yet! Give 'em a try!Perfect Fingerling Potatoes
4.5 quarts cold water
2 lbs fingerling potatoes
salt

Rinse all potatoes and add to a large (6 qt.) stock pot. Fill 3/4 of the way with water. Salt the water and turn the heat on to high. Bring to a boil and then cook for about 25 - 30 minutes - until the potatoes are fork tender. Remove from the pot to a cooling rack and let stand for 5 - 7 minutes. Serve with Chive Butter.

Emeril's Scalloped Potatoes

Proceed with CAUTION. These potatoes are rich, delicious and creamy... and should only be made on occasion OR after you've had one of the best workouts of your life. Otherwise you may blow up to look like Marlon Brando...
I followed this recipe almost exactly the only substitution I made was that I didn't use Swiss cheese I used this delicious, wonderful Irish white cheddar... mmm...mmm...

Emeril's Scalloped Potatoes

1 teaspoon unsalted butter
4 cups heavy cream
2 teaspoons salt, divided
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 to 3 1/4 pounds Idaho potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch slices
8 ounces Swiss cheese, grated

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly grease a 2-quart baking dish with the butter and set aside.
Place the cream in a large saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Add 1 teaspoon of the salt and the pepper, and stir well. Add the potatoes, adding more cream if necessary to completely cover the potatoes. Lower the heat to medium-low and simmer until the potatoes are barely fork tender, about 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from the heat.
With a large spoon, transfer 1/3 of the potatoes with some of the cream to the prepared dish, forming an even layer on the bottom. Top with 1/3 of the cheese, and continue layering the potatoes and cheese, ending with cheese on top. Place on a baking sheet and roast until golden brown and bubbly, about 30 minutes.
Remove from the oven and let sit for 5 minutes. Serve hot.

Funeral Potatoes

If you live outside Utah - you may know these by another name. I grew up in SLC and these potatoes were what I looked forward to the most for Easter and Christmas dinners.

I told a friend that I was making them and she thought they were called funeral potatoes because eating them would give you a heart attack (good one!) but they are called that because in Utah, these babies are served at nearly every dinner after a funeral. Crazy name - but these are darn good!
Funeral Potatoes
48 oz. frozen hashbrowns (the shredded kind)
2 cans cream of chicken soup
2 cups sour cream
1 1/2 t dried minced onion (I prefer using fresh chopped onions - but I am an onion freak)
1 c shredded cheddar cheese

Mix everything except the hashbrowns together - then fold the hashbrowns in. Spread into a 9x13 casserole dish and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

*You can also use corn flakes cereal mixed with a little melted butter to top the casserole for the last 5 minutes of baking. I didn't have corn flakes - so I used Ritz crackers instead.

Decadent Mashed Potatoes

*Can make ahead of time – 1 or 2 days ahead!

Decadent Mashed Potatoes
5 pounds Russet Or Yukon Gold Potatoes
¾ cups Butter
1 package (8 Oz.) Cream Cheese, Softened*
½ cups (to 3/4 Cups) Half-and-Half
½ teaspoons (to 1 Teaspoon) Lawry's Seasoned Salt
½ teaspoons (to 1 Teaspoon) Black Pepper
Preparation Instructions
Peel and cut the potatoes into pieces that are generally the same size. Bring a large pot of water to a simmer and add the potatoes. Bring to a boil and cook for 30 to 35 minutes. When they’re cooked through, the fork should easily slide into the potatoes with no resistance, and the potatoes should almost, but not totally, fall apart.
Drain the potatoes in a large colander. When the potatoes have finished draining, place them back into the dry pot and put the pot on the stove. Mash the potatoes over low heat, allowing all the steam to escape, before adding in all the other ingredients.

In a separate smaller pot, add 1 ½ sticks of butter, an 8-ounce package of cream cheese and about ½ cup of half-and-half,  ½ teaspoon of Lawry’s Seasoning Salt and ½ a teaspoon of black pepper. Heat this up so you are not mixing cold ingredients into the hot potatoes.

Add warm liquid mixture to the potatoes and stir to incorporate, place in a medium-sized baking dish. Throw a few pats of butter over the top of the potatoes and place them in a 350-degree oven and heat until butter is melted and potatoes are warmed through.
Note: When making this dish a day or two in advance, take it out of the fridge about 2 to 3 hours before serving time. Bake in a 350-degree oven for about 20 to 30 minutes or until warmed through.

Ruth's Chris Sweet Potato Casserole

We make this for Thanksgiving - but we made it the other day for Father's Day - so I updated the picture and our current method.

Crust
1 cup brown sugar 

1/3 cup flour 

1/3 cup butter, melted. Combine brown sugar, flour, nuts and butter in mixing bowl. Set aside.
*1 cup chopped pecans (OMIT for allergies - to be added as wanted before service)

Sweet Potato Mixture
3 cups mashed sweet potatoes 

1 cup sugar 

½ teaspoon salt 

1 teaspoon vanilla 

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
8x8 pan or oval glass casserole dish

Microwave the sweet potatoes one at a time in the microwave for 6 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Peel the sweet potatoes when they are cool enough. I usually just do this with my hands.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a medium-size casserole dish with butter.
Combine sweet potatoes, sugar, salt, vanilla and butter in a large mixing bowl in the order listed. Beat thoroughly with a hand mixer 4 minutes to increase the fluffiness of the sweet potato mixture.

Pour mixture into the baking dish. Bake for 30 minutes. (At this point, dish can be covered and refrigerated.)

After baked off. Sprinkle the surface of the sweet potato mixture evenly with the crust mixture and return to oven for 10 minutes. Allow to set at least 30 minutes before serving.
The brown sugar crust should be slightly browned and crunchy. Add pecan's if desired.

The Perfect Roasted Potatoes

I bought a cookbook titled "Roasting" by Peter Swann last week (clearance $2) and I've been pouring over the text and drooling over the recipes ever since. Roasting is one of the most basic no muss no fuss ways to cook something with mucho flavor and minimal effort (second only to using your crock pot).

Since we don't have taste-o-vision or smell-o-vision, I try to use descriptive words when posting recipes. I have used words like "Best Ever" "So Delicious" "Crowd Pleaser" etc. I have NEVER used the word "Perfect" to describe a recipe. I've been saving that word for this recipe.

***Life changing tip ahead - keep reading***

This morning I made these for our 'skillet type' breakfast. I'm not sure if you can tell - but they are about the size of a quarter - a small bite.

Next time I make them, I'll make them in bigger chunks - dinner style...

The Perfect Roasted Potatoes
3 lbs potatoes (any kind you like) peeled and cut into chunks
3 T EVOO
Salt

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. cook the potatoes in a large pan of lightly salted boiling water over medium heat, covered for 5 - 7 minutes. They will still be firm. remove from the heat. meanwhile, add the EVOO to a roasting pan (or cookie sheet) and place in the hot oven.

***Here it is. The best cooking tip I've heard of this year*** Drain the potatoes well and return them to the pan. Cover with the lid and firmly shake the pan so that the surface of the potatoes is slightly roughened to help give them a much crisper texture.

Remove the roasting pan from the oven and carefully tip the potatoes into the hot oil. baste them mto ensure that they are all coated with the oil.

Roast the potatoes at the top of the oven for 45 -50 minutes (the small potatoes I did this morning only took 35 minutes) until they are browned all over and thoroughly crisp. Turn the potatoes and baste again only once during the process or the crunchy edges will be destroyed.

Using a slotted spoon, carefully transfer the potatoes from the roasting pan into a warmed serving dish. Sprinkle with a little salt and serve at once.


For breakfast this morning we ate them completely unseasoned - I didn't even salt the water when I boiled them - and they were sooo good. The recipe calls for you to salt the potatoes when they are finished cooking - but I would suggest seasoning them right when you put them in the oven. They come out of the oven so crispy on the outside (soft and fluffy on the inside) that the surface of the potato isn't porous enough to accept seasoning.

The cool thing about this is that you can season these a million different ways - imagine the possibilities:)

Potato Crust Quiche

Looking for a crowd pleaser ‘brunch style’ a couple years ago, I defaulted to my younger sister – who is a fabulous cook (hope she joins the blog!) and who always has the perfect recipe. This is a family fav. We’ve made it for tail gaiting, company, Easter brunch or today – for Mother’s Day brunch... Potato Crust Quiche
32 oz frozen hash browns
1 onion grated or diced (preference)
1 t salt
1 t pepper
2/3 c butter
8 eggs
2 c ham, bacon or sausage (preference)
2 c grated cheddar cheese
1 c milk

Mix hash browns and onion with salt and pepper. Melt butter and pour over mixture. Press into greased 9x13 casserole dish. Bake at 425° for 25 minutes. Beat eggs with milk until foamy. Add cheese and cooked meat. Stir well. Pour over potatoes and bake again at 400° for 25 minutes.

Happy munching on this Happy Mother’s Day!!