Special Potatoes

This is a favorite potato dish in our family.  This, with meat loaf and green beans, is one of our traditional meals at our annual snowmobile trip.  There are several short cuts you can do to make this recipe faster (like use hashbrowns rather than boil potatoes and shred them yourself or use pre-shredded cheddar) but it does change the consistency and flavor a bit.  I like it either way but prefer it with the traditional ingredients. 

I started by boiling my potatoes in heavily salted water.  I think it's important to make sure the potatoes are well seasoned.  The best way is to do it while they are cooking.  But I've also seasoned them after I grate them into the pan.  I made half a recipe, since there were only four of us eating. 

I also don't cook the potatoes until they are completely done.  If you do I end up with mushed potatoes instead of grated potatoes. 

Next I diced up the green onions while the pototoes cooled off.

I grated the potatoes into a 9x9-inch pan since I was making a half recipe.

Then I heated the soup and butter until it was melted and combined.  Since I was making a half batch I actually weighed out half of a can of soup...

Anal, I know.  I also used cream of chicken because Jonathan doesn't like mushrooms and claims he can taste them when I use it.  But I like cream of mushroom a lot more.  Also, I always use the healthy choice soup - there is plenty of fat in this recipe.  :-)

Next I spread the yummy goodness over the potatoes.

Next the cheese.  You really want to use a good quality sharp cheddar cheese with this recipe.  You really need the sharp cheddar to off-set/compliment the very mild, creamy sauce that tops the potatoes.  We used to always use Cracker Barrel but I can't find that down in California.  So it was Tillamook this time.

This is another recipe that you can make ahead.  I've never tried freezing it (and I wouldn't recomend that) but I've made it up to a week in advance and refrigerated it until I was ready to eat it. 

I covered it with aluminum foil and stuck it in the frig.  The night I was serving it I couldn't get home from work in time to get it in the oven in time for dinner but all Jonathan had to do was turn on the oven and stick the dish in about an hour before we were eating. 

Yum!

Special Potatoes

Ingredients:

6 to 7 potatoes, peeled                                                 1 bunch green onions

1 can (10 ¾ oz.) cream of mushroom                       1 container (16 oz.) sour cream

¼ cup butter                                                                      10 oz. Extra Sharp Cheddar Cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Boil potatoes and allow to cool.  Dice green onions using whites and light green part.  Set aside.  Grate potatoes into a 13 x 9-inch cake pan.  In a saucepan, heat mushroom soup and butter.  When butter is melted and stirred into soup.  Take the pan of the heat and mix in the green onions and sour cream.  Mix well.  Pour the mixture over the grated potatoes.  Grate the cheese and cover the top of the potatoes.  Cover with aluminum foil and bake 45 – 60 minutes.  Serves 8 -12. 

The calorie details below are based on 18 servings but these are so good, it take a lot of self-control to have that small a serving.