Creamy Au Gratin Potatoes

Recipe:

PREP TIME	30 Min
COOK TIME	1 Hr 30 Min
READY IN	2 Hrs

SERVINGS & SCALING

Original recipe yield: 4 servings

INGREDIENTS

• 4 russet potatoes, sliced into 1/4 inch slices
• 1 onion, sliced into rings
• salt and pepper to taste
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups milk
• 1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Butter a 1 quart casserole dish.
2. Layer 1/2 of the potatoes into bottom of the prepared casserole dish. Top with the onion slices, and add the remaining potatoes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
3. In a medium-size saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Mix in the flour and salt, and stir constantly with a whisk for one minute. Stir in milk. Cook until mixture has thickened. Stir in cheese all at once, and continue stirring until melted, about 30 to 60 seconds. Pour cheese over the potatoes, and cover the dish with aluminum foil.
4. Bake 1 1/2 hours in the preheated oven.

Review:
These were good, but not spectacular. I was looking for a lower fat version of my regular funeral potato recipe that has a couple cans of creamed soups, at least a cup of sour cream and plenty of cheese. This is lower fat, but it's not as good as my other potatoes. I guess I'll have to decide whether I'd rather live longer or die happy. Also, this recipe makes at least eight servings, unless maybe it is served as a main dish. An entire potato usually fills me up; maybe the author of this recipe eats more than I do.

We did make a couple changes. Our potato slices were more like 1/8 an inch (or smaller) because we used a vegetable slicer. This made the recipe more like chunky mashed potatoes, but it was still creamy and yummy. Second thing, upon tasting when they were done, we decided they needed quite a bit more salt. When salted to taste, as the recipe calls for, I'd use 1/2 teaspoon or more, plus the recommended salt for the sauce. We used skim milk like usual (the recipe doesn't specify -- this worked just fine) and we had to add some extra cheese at the end (I think we only put a cup to start out -- we didn't measure exactly). Overall, if you're trying to make a more "natural" version of the typical funeral potatoes, this works, but it's not as yummy.