Thursday, December 22, 2011

Day 22 - Grandma's Cheesy Potatoes

Welcome to Day 22 of 25 Days of Recipes!  Remember Lindsay from Day 3?  Well she's back!  She was so nice to offer to share another recipe.  So, she's here to share a yummy side dish for your Christmas dinner (coming up in 3 days!!!).

Take it Away Lindsay:
These aren't your typical cheese potatoes; they are 1,000% better!! Perhaps they are better than any other kind of cheese potatoes I've had before because they are filled with 31 years of warm Christmas memories. Perhaps they are just better because they are just better!! Whatever the reason, Christmas dinner isn't complete without these cheese potatoes.

Sometimes my grandma gets this wild hair and says she isn't going to make them because they take forever for her to make. The family gets in an absolute uproar when this kind of talk comes from her mouth. So, a few years ago my mom and I decided we were going to nip that talk in the bud and make the cheese potatoes ourselves every year...to be sure that we have them! lol.

Grandma’s Famous Christmas Cheesy Potatoes

 
Here is what you need: (You may double or triple this recipe as needed)
·        4 medium potatoes (enough to fill a 9x9 pan after they are diced)
·        1 cup milk
·        3 TBS butter
·        2 ½ TBS flour
·        ¼ lb processed cheese (Velveeta or the generic brand)
·        ½ medium yellow onion
·        salt and pepper to taste

Here is what you do:
·    Dice and boil potatoes until ALMOST done (you don’t want them to be mushy at all, so remove them from the boiling water when they are not quite done yet; also, I don’t peel my potatoes because I use red potatoes)
·    Dice onions and cook in one TBS butter until you can almost see through them
·     Preheat oven to 325
·    Make the sauce as follows: Melt remaining 2 TBS butter; add flour, stirring constantly for 1 minute to make a roux; slowly add milk, using a whisk constantly so you don’t get any clumps; add cheese, salt, and pepper; heat through until melted and well combined
·     Drain and place cooked potatoes in 9x13 pan and cover with cheese sauce
·     Sprinkle onions on top
·    Bake for 30 minutes, but be sure it doesn’t bubble.

These cheese potatoes are like no other cheese potatoes. They are NOT funeral potatoes. I repeat…they are NOT funeral potatoes. They are, instead, the star of Christmas dinner!

Thanks Lindsay!  Enjoy!

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