A recipe look-up….

So recently my mom asked me to look up a recipe for scalloped potatoes for our dinner for Resurrection Sunday. I did, fairly easy job. I showed her the recipe and the ingredients for it. She looked them over and said “okay”. That was that. I didn’t print it nor did I write it out thinking that I would just show it to her on Sunday and it would be fine. Well Sunday rolled around and The Kid and I went to church in the morning. We got back and after I made us a snack, I worked on a blog post. I was done fairly late considering I was supposed to show my mom the recipe.

Change of Plans

I went over to my mom’s place right after I was done with my post and asked if she needed any help. Then helped her with little things. You know, chopping this, tasting that but still she did not ask me for the recipe. I then see that is my mom is preparing the cream for the potatoes and that she had line a casserole dish with sliced baked potatoes. I asked her about the recipe and she said she was remembering the way my grandmother made creamy potatoes. That is the way she would do it; with some cream, sour cream, cheese, some spices and butter. She poured the cream over the potatoes then put another layer of potatoes and so on. After that, she put that into the oven and we guesses about 15-20 minutes would good. When we made had them, they were pretty good. Very creamy and tasty. One of my favorite dishes of the evening. My mother then gave me some leftover boiled potato slices and leftover ham for The Kid and I to have. We were grateful.

Cheesy Potatoes?? Say What??

So last night, I decided to make a similar dish to my mom’s creamy potatoes which are similar to scalloped potatoes except for a few ingredients, one of which is flour. Only, I was going to make them extra cheesy. I wanted to it be cheesy potatoes. I would do it like my mom, not following any set recipe. Eyeballing everything and adding what I thought was needed. I do this quite often, actually. It is kind of more fun this way, sometimes. If you don’t feel comfortable this way, by all means look up a good recipe, try it and when you feel up for it, alter to your satisfaction. Get as creative as possible. Just remember to respect each ingredient, when doing so.

I got out my ingredients:

half pint of heavy cream

the potatoes my mom gave me (about 5 red potatoes)

some milk ( roughly half a cup)

2 TBS of butter

about a cup of shredded cheese (cheddar, Havarti & Mexican blend)

3 scallion bulbs (chopped)

salt, pepper, paprika and a bit of Jamaican style hot curry powder to taste

I brought to a boil the cream, milk and butter then added the rest of the ingredients. First the cheese, adding it in small batches while stirring to incorporate it into the sauce. I added the spices then the scallions while it simmered. I then poured the sauce over a layer of the sliced potatoes in an aluminum pan. After another layer of potatoes I added more sauce until we were out of both the sauce and the potatoes. I then added a bit of cheese on top, au gratin style. After i finished dressing my cheesy potatoes I put the dish into the oven which was preheated at about 425 degrees. I left in for about 15-20 minutes and it was nicely browned when we took it out. Btw, my husband is my sous chef most of the time when I cook. That is why I keep putting “we” when I write.

Sharing is caring….

It was sooooo YUM!! Too much yum. I couldn’t believe it would come out so well especially since, again, I am not a chef nor did I follow a structured recipe. That is why my “recipe” is so informal. I just went with what I saw my mom and my gut. Have you ever done something like this? If not, try it and see what awesome food you can make. If you have then let me know. Share your story with me. Also, share if you do attempt to recreate this “recipe” of mine and also if you alter it. Let me know what could be added in or made better? I love sharing and learning when it comes to creating. Thanks for reading.