AN OLDIE BUT A GOODIE
I was invited to a home cooked dinner by dear friends that I haven’t seen since 2016 who were visiting from the West Coast and only staying an hour away from me! They were making Samin Nosrat’s Buttermilk Chicken (Oh My!), and a Fresh Spinach Salad. I offered to bring a side dish, so I pulled a recipe from my recipe stock that my dear friend, Pat gave to me in the 1990s that she got from her best friend! It’s a Golden Potato Casserole! And what a Gold Star Casserole it is!
A PERFECT COMPLIMENT TO CHICKEN, BEEF OR PORK!
There are times when you just want a perfectly baked potato to compliment a steak, or by itself topped with bacon, cheese or onions. But when you want something special, this Golden Potato Casserole is an easy way to compliment a dinner entrée. You start by cooking medium size potatoes, but do not cut them up before you put them in the pot of water. You keep them whole after you peel them, and you only boil them for 15 minutes so they are still hard enough to shred into hash browns. Now, I will let you in on a little secret: I cheat sometimes on this recipe by buying shredded hash browns either in the refrigerated or frozen sections of my grocery store! Then the recipe is REALLY easy!
The other ingredients you need are just butter, swiss or cheddar cheese (or another cheese of your liking), chopped onions, sour cream, and salt and pepper. I topped my casserole with left over garlic bread I had that I grated in my food processor, but you can just sprinkle some buttered bread crumbs or panko on top and voila!
Bake for about 40 minutes at 350 degrees and you have a creamy, cheesy potato dish that everyone will love!!!!
SHARING A DELICIOUS HOMEMADE MEAL WITH DEAR FRIENDS IS THE BEST!
A simple, homemade meal doesn’t have to be time-consuming to make, or a gourmet recipe! Samin Nosrat’s Buttermilk Chicken is so easy to make (thank you Samin!), and with this Golden Potato Casserole and a simple Spinach Salad with fresh vegetables and a poppy seed dressing, we were all in heaven! Of course, a chilled Chardonnay to compliment the meal was the icing on the cake!
So when making a homemade meal to share with your loved ones, keep it simple with just my rule of threes: protein, starch and vegetable! And each part doesn’t have to be complicated to make to be delicious! I usually pick one part to be a little fancy, and keep the other two parts simple! And now that we can share good times together without as much concern over spreading the COVID virus, we all have another reason to be grateful! So…..
Until next time,
Let’s get cookin”
Madeline
Golden Potato Casserole
Equipment
- 1 4 - 8 Quart Pot with Lid If using fresh whole potatoes
- 1 Cutting Board
- 1 Chef's Knife
- 1 Grater If using fresh whole potatoes
- 1 9" x 13" glass dish or aluminum pan
Ingredients
- 6 medium baking potatoes (or 20 ounces shredded hash browns from your grocer's refrigerated or frozen section)
- ¼ cup butter
- ⅓ cup onions, chopped
- 2 cups sour cream
- 2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded I use half swiss and half cheddar
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 cup breadcrumbs tossed with 1 tbsp melted butter optional
- ½ cup red peppers, diced for garnish optional
Instructions
- If using refrigerated or frozen hash browns, skip to step 5.
- Wash and rinse 6 medium potatoes.
- Peel potatoes, and place whole in pot of water, and boil for 15 minutes.
- Let potatoes cool just enough to handle in order to grate them like hash browns.
- On low - medium heat, melt cheese, butter and onions together.
- Add hash brown potatoes, salt and pepper. Gently mix until all ingredients are blended, trying not to break the hash browns up too much.
- Pour into a 9" x 13" glass dish and sprinkle with buttered breadcrumbs.
- Bake at 350° for 40 minutes, until just bubbling in the center.
- Garnish with diced red peppers to add color when serving (optional).
Notes
