Adventures in cookery
I can't make cheesy potato casserole. How sad is that? I've tried 3 times, and here are my results:
Attempt #1: Cubed potatoes not completely cooked. I attribute this to an inadequate frying pan (which is fine for omelettes and browning beef, but can't stand up to the rigors of pan-frying two potatoes). The cheese sauce was a little chalky. I attributed this to too much flour in the white sauce (2 tbls flour, 2 tbls butter, 1.5 cups milk), but the results below indicate otherwise. Also, I added waaaaaaaaaaaaay too much pepper. [The potato situation improved when I reheated the leftovers. The cheese situation only got worse.]
Attempt #2: Cubed potatoes mushy. I decided to half-fry, half-steam the potatoes, but I'm an idiot and left them in the covered pan way too long. I cut the flour in the white sauce to 1 tablespoon, but the cheese sauce was still not smooth.
Attempt #3: Cubed potatoes just right. There appears to be no remedy for the cheese sauce. Is it the cheese (I was using Kraft pre-shredded sharp cheddar)? Is it the starch in the potatoes themselves?
Attempt #4: By now, I was running low on milk (I don't normally keep milk on hand, and I wasn't willing to buy another carton just to use up the last two potatoes), so I decided NOT to make cheesy potato casserole but to make potatoes au gratin instead. The difference appears to be slicing rather than cubing the potatoes, plus (with less milk) a MUCH thicker cheese sauce. Yummy, but the leftovers didn't reheat as nicely as the cheesy potato casserole.
Of course, the entire time I was in the kitchen, I was singing the cheesy toast anthem (because cheesy potato casserole doesn't have a song):Oh cheesy toast, oh cheesy toast,
You are so cheesy and toasty.
Oh cheesy toast, oh cheesy toast,
I think I love you the mosty.
You're made of toast. You're made of cheese.
Oh cheesy toast, you're sure to please.
Oh cheesy toast, oh cheesy toast,
You are so toasty and cheesy.
Oh cheesy toast, oh cheesy toast,
Making you is so easy.
I deny all suggestions that the song curdled the milk, leading to cheese sauce chalkiness.
Attempt #1: Cubed potatoes not completely cooked. I attribute this to an inadequate frying pan (which is fine for omelettes and browning beef, but can't stand up to the rigors of pan-frying two potatoes). The cheese sauce was a little chalky. I attributed this to too much flour in the white sauce (2 tbls flour, 2 tbls butter, 1.5 cups milk), but the results below indicate otherwise. Also, I added waaaaaaaaaaaaay too much pepper. [The potato situation improved when I reheated the leftovers. The cheese situation only got worse.]
Attempt #2: Cubed potatoes mushy. I decided to half-fry, half-steam the potatoes, but I'm an idiot and left them in the covered pan way too long. I cut the flour in the white sauce to 1 tablespoon, but the cheese sauce was still not smooth.
Attempt #3: Cubed potatoes just right. There appears to be no remedy for the cheese sauce. Is it the cheese (I was using Kraft pre-shredded sharp cheddar)? Is it the starch in the potatoes themselves?
Attempt #4: By now, I was running low on milk (I don't normally keep milk on hand, and I wasn't willing to buy another carton just to use up the last two potatoes), so I decided NOT to make cheesy potato casserole but to make potatoes au gratin instead. The difference appears to be slicing rather than cubing the potatoes, plus (with less milk) a MUCH thicker cheese sauce. Yummy, but the leftovers didn't reheat as nicely as the cheesy potato casserole.
Of course, the entire time I was in the kitchen, I was singing the cheesy toast anthem (because cheesy potato casserole doesn't have a song):Oh cheesy toast, oh cheesy toast,
You are so cheesy and toasty.
Oh cheesy toast, oh cheesy toast,
I think I love you the mosty.
You're made of toast. You're made of cheese.
Oh cheesy toast, you're sure to please.
Oh cheesy toast, oh cheesy toast,
You are so toasty and cheesy.
Oh cheesy toast, oh cheesy toast,
Making you is so easy.
I deny all suggestions that the song curdled the milk, leading to cheese sauce chalkiness.