Au gratin potatoes are delicious. Friday night, I discovered how dangerously easy they are to make at home. Last night I made them again, just to make sure that the night before hadn't been a fluke.

1. Scrub and bake (microwave - 5 min or so) one large potato until cooked through. Let cool a bit. Slice as thinly as possible. Crumbly bits aren't a problem.

2. Shred sharp cheddar cheese into a large dish. A pile. 1/2-1C. Add about the same again of parmesan cheese. Throw on some herb mix -- Mrs. Dash or the equivalent. Mix it up. The cheeses &c. won't mix evenly, you'll need to stir them up as you layer them into the casserole.

More potatoes? More cheese. The volume of cheese should == the volume of potato.

3. In a small casserole dish, place a layer (one slice deep) of potatoes. Toss on a handful of the cheese-herb mix. Add another layer of potato. Cheese. And so forth, ending with a layer of cheese. The broken, crumbly bits of potato can be tossed in the intermediary layers between the slices.

4. Add cream/half-and-half/milk ... to casserole until the top layer of potatoes is just barely covered.

5. Microwave until dairy liquid has been pretty much absorbed.

   posted by Sal Towse at  11:50 AM|| |