Scalloped Potatoes with Cheese

 

When you are sitting on 100's of recipes from your Grandmothers' recipe boxes, every time you cook a meal, you look through those boxes for inspiration. It can be more challenging when you approach things in reverse.  I had ingredients, now I needed a recipe that could help me use them. Thus, Scalloped Potatoes with Cheese.  This one is one of those cut-outs appropriately stapled to a recipe card - there are lots of those.

Scalloped Potatoes with Cheese

3 tbsps. butter

3 tbsps. flour

1 1/2 cups milk

1 1/4 cups (packed down) grated (medium-fine) sharp cheddar cheese

1/4 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. pepper

1 qt. cubed (3/4-inch) cooked potatoes 

1/3 cup fine dry bread crumbs

Melt butter in a 1-quart saucepan over low heat; stir in flour; remove from heat; gradually stir in milk keeping smooth. Cook, stirring constantly, over moderately low heat until thickened and boiling; off heat, stir in 1 cup of the cheese until melted, add salt and pepper.

Turn potatoes into a 2 quart 8x8x2-inch glass baking dish or similar utensil; pour sauce over potatoes; sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup cheese, then with bread crumbs. Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven until bubbly hot and topping is golden - 30 minutes. Makes 6 servings. Note: you will need 6 medium potatoes (about 1 3/4 lbs) cooked in salted water for this recipe.

Bubba liked these.  So much so that he actually ate them the day after, and trust me - he's not really a leftovers kind of guy.  He also said he liked them better than mashed potatoes. I haven't figured out how to take that - specially since rice is always the starch of choice. 

  

Notes about these cheesy potatoes:  I used panko bread crumbs - cooked in a little butter - I would do this again.  The cheese sauce was thick - I would add more milk to thin it out.  This is an easy recipe to make.  These were served with a Meat Loaf recipe, also found in My Grandmas' recipe boxes.  I'll share that recipe next.