In the Kitchen With Mattie

The boys used to love a version of these when they were home, tonight I added a bit of onion for a little more flavor for hubby and I. Again I have to send thanks out to MaryAnne for her tip about pre-doing potatoes in the pressure cooker and having them ready for use in the fridge. What used to take me a long time to get done, today took mere minutes thanks to those potatoes being ready to go. We have had so much beef for the past week I was about beefed out even though I don’t really eat a big portion of any meat, so tonight I pulled a pork tenderloin out of the freezer for dinner, seasoned it and let it come to room temperature while I worked on putting the potatoes together. Some frozen mixed vegetables completed the meal along with a little gravy for the meat. Matt is on his way over to pick up some for himself so he can have a decent dinner and it doesn’t go to waste. I almost forgot, hubby also had some applesauce with his pork.

                                                 Cheesy Potatoes

3 cups of peeled diced par-cooked potatoes

2 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons finely minced onion

1 tablespoon all purpose flour

3 cups light cream or whole milk, warmed to simmering or microwaved for about 2 minutes

1/4 teaspoon salt

few grinds fresh pepper

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded

Melt butter in a small saucepan, add minced onion when the butter is melted and saute until the onion is translucent. Add the flour and the salt and pepper to the pan and mix well with the butter, continue cooking over low heat and stirring for 3 minutes, add the milk in a slow stream, add dry mustard, whisk continually until the sauce thickens and is smooth. Put the potatoes into a small oven proof casserole and when the sauce is done add to the potatoes, mix well and then top with the cheese, bake for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees or until the cheese is melted and the dish is bubbling.