Presbyterian Potatoes

So, I went on a little unplanned Recipe Book hiatus. First it was President's/Valetine's Day weekend, which meant my parents came to town and we went to Palm Springs for a few days off in the sun. Not that it wasn't oddly extra sunny in LA, but still. Then, no sooner did they leave, but Tracie came out to visit from Boston on her winter break from school.

I should have foreseen that I had booked a shit-ton of activities with all the visitors and wouldn't be anywhere near my kitchen and at least been able to provide a warning. But I didn't. The best laid plans and all that.

So anyhow, my apologies for the surprise dark week on the blog, but now I'm back. And I come bearing potatoes.

Presbyterian Potatoes, to be exact. Presbyterian Potatoes were another eleventh hour entry from Cathy, who loaded me up with a handful of recipes out of the goodness of her heart, and possibly a little desire to stay the Recipe Book execution, as it were.

On the last night of Tracie's visit, we decided to make dinner. Each person contributed a piece. Tracie made Chicken Milanese, Josh made his killer mojitos (virtually demanded by Tracie when she sees him), and I kicked in Cathy's potatoes. By 'I kicked in Cathy's potatoes,' I mean I dubbed Tracie my sous-chef and we made them together. By 'we made them together' I mean I mostly handed her things and shouted out orders and she did it all. Still, combined effort I think.

Cathy's recipe explains that this recipe comes from her family in the South, who, although they are not Presbyterian, call them Presbyterian Potatoes. Now that she lives in Minnesota, her family there refers to them as Cheesy Potatoes, which is also considered hot dish.

Cathy tried explain to me what hot dish is--as though I am not married to an Iowan who told me about hot dish years ago! (For those of you not married to a Midwesterner, hot dish is basically anything in a casserole dish. It can be weird as shit, it just has to make sense being served in a casserole dish. Also, I think, as you would imagine, it is supposed to be hot.)

Side note: Cathy also tried to explain to me that in Minnesota they call 'Duck, Duck, Goose,' 'Duck, Duck, Grey Duck,' which would have wowed me had another native Minnesotan friend not blown my mind with that one years ago, too. Poor Cathy, beaten to the punch on all the weird Minnesota lore.

Anyhow, basically, Presbyterian Potatoes is a giant casserole dish full of potatoes and cheese and lots of other things that are bad for you and therefore taste great. Obviously, something I am going to love. As Josh isn't a fan of potatoes, I rarely get call to make something like this, so Cathy's recipe was a great excuse.

They were easy to make and came out as predicted - a giant hot casserole dish of potato goodness. What was not predicted was that Josh liked them. Enough to give himself seconds without prompting. Tracie was generally a fan, although she didn't like the onions. I know this because at the end of the meal, there was a pile of onions on her plate. That and she said, 'I don't like the onions,' which she claimed were underdone. Josh and I think she was crazy, though; the onions were good.

This picture blows. This is because the lighting in the
dining room really isn't very good for picture taking at night.
Also because I used our cheapie camera. Also because we all had too
many mojitos to care and I'm not a very good photographer
compared to the very skilled Josh. So there.

Cathy's Presbyterian Cheesy Whatever-You-Call-Them Potatoes

2 lb frozen hash browns*
1 pint sour cream (lite works fine)
1 can cream of chicken soup**
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (or a Mexican cheese blend)
1 tsp salt (Kosher!)
pepper
1/2 cup chopped onions (Optional. Cathy omits. Tracie wishes I did. She is wrong.)***
1 stick butter, melted (Cathy uses only 1/2 stick)
1 sm box Corn Flakes (This 'small' size no longer exists...Use 1 1/2 - 2 cups)

Hand Tracie butter and your casserole dish and tell her she knows what to do. Ignore her shrieks that the butter is soft because you gave her the butter that lives outside the refrigerator in the butter dish, and therefore it is permanently, purposefully soft. Hello!

(Have Tracie) mix together all ingredients through the onions, which you choose to include because Cathy gives you so many variations on this recipe that your head melts so you just decide to go original on it and make the variations in the future. Which means you didn't do Cathy's alternative cream of chicken soup recipe, but you probably will next time. Which also means there probably will be no onions in the future as the doctor has recently told Josh they are one of the things he should cut out of his diet to control his acid reflux. Sadness.

(Have Tracie) mix the melted butter and Corn Flakes together and crumble on top of dish. Notice that the one stick of butter to 2 cups of Corn Flakes ratio seems insane as the Corn Flakes are dripping in a sea of butter, and understand why Cathy reduces it to a half stick. Sound decision, Cath.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes.

Note: You can assemble the dish and keep in the fridge. Then do not preheat the oven...just put the casserole in from the fridge and turn on to 350.

Has anyone here noticed that Cathy likes to use ellipses when she writes? Just saying.

*Cathy says: I sometimes use fresh potatoes -- peel & cube to 1/2" to 3/4" pieces. Boil in water until a sharp knife easily pierces the potato. Drain and let cool in the fridge while you do everything else. Once the potatoes are cool, add to the rest of the ingredients. But the first time you make it, use the frozen ones.

To which Heather says: While I generally vote for fresh over frozen, the ease of dumping the bag of frozen hash browns into the bowl is kind of hard to beat on this one. Also, I agonized whether to the get the shaved or cubed hash browns from the grocery, ignoring Tracie's pleas for cubed in favor of my love of shaved (yes, that sounds dirty). Given Cathy's description here, it should probably have been cubed, but damn it all, my love is not to be denied.

**Cathy has developed a replacement for the condensed soup recipe, which is lower in fat and sodium, says she. But tastes the same, says she. It goes as follows:

1 tbsp butter
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth or 1/2 cup milk or 1/2 cup water
1/2 cup milk
[Note: You need 1 cup of total liquid in the form of all milk, milk/stock, or milk/water. Cathy has never tried the milk/stock, but claims it will work.]

Melt butter in saucepan over medium-low heat and add a few tbsp of the liquid to the butter. Stir in flour and keep stirring until smooth and bubbly (Cathy's never gets smooth and bubbly until she adds a a little more of the liquid). Remove from heat and add liquids, a little at a time, stirring to maintain smoothness.

Return to heat and bring to a gentle boil; cook, stirring constantly, until it thickens. Taste and adjust seasoning accordingly.

***Chopping method: Milch + Squeakykitty.