Imagine offering to host a work dinner party for a friend, plan for it a month in advance, and then hurricane Irene decides to blow in the weekend of the party. Thursday night we shopped for groceries amidst people preparing to hunker down for the storm. Friday afternoon we had to go back to all the same stores to get everything they had been out of on Thursday due to the storm. Friday night we prepped. And then Saturday morning in the rain & wind we starting cooking. Until I took a break from chopping to look over my shoulder and saw a bushy tail under the dining room table. We spent the next hour chasing a squirrel (who had come down the chimney) out of the house. Then, several hours later, the power went out. For what would be a total of 9 hours. We ended up moving the cooking to another location and the party to yet another location while the beautifully-decorated table sat unoccupied in the dark.
This potato recipe is one that my mom made when we were growing up. I decided to make it because I can hardly keep up with the carton of potatoes I get every week through the CSA. We sliced a total of 4 cartons of potatoes in preparation. After the chaos of squirrel and storm, this was the perfect comfort food to serve alongside filet & Madeira with button mushrooms. There wasn’t a bite left. And there were still potatoes enough at home for the church potluck on Sunday and my home group dinner on Monday. Maybe that’s why I can no longer fit in my skinny jeans!
Ingredients
Potatoes (any kind, I used a combination of red & gold potatoes) sliced very thin, leaving peel (but remove any bad spots)
1 medium chopped onion
Chopped curly parsley
Grated cheddar cheese
1 pt. whipping cream
Salt
Layer the following ingredients in a casserole dish: potatoes, sprinkle with a little onion, parsley, cheese and then a dash of salt. Continue layering in this order until the dish is filled to the top. Pour whipping cream over everything and bake at 350 for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, or until potatoes are tender. After about 30 minutes you’ll want to cover the dish with aluminum foil so the top doesn’t get too brown.
