Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Recipe Challenge #7: Sour Cream & Cheese Potatoes

I decided to grill Filet Mignon for dinner tonight, so I wanted to make a recipe that would go well as a side.  The THRIVE Sour Cream & Cheese Potatoes looked like the perfect solution.

As I was making this recipe, there were a couple of things that stood out:  First, I'm SO glad that I bought 3 sets of mixing bowls.  There is no way that I could easily make most of these recipes without them.  I'm sure that is typical with most recipes, I just never cooked much before now.  

Second, the recommended soaking (i.e., rehydration) times are WAY off.  The cookbook recommended soaking the THRIVE Potato Chunks in very hot (or pour in boiling) water for 15 minutes.  Based on previous experience with rehydrating some of the THRIVE foods, I decided to add 10 more minutes to the time.  I should have added about 30 minutes. I have no doubt that the food would be perfect with the appropriate soaking time though. 

Ok, back to recipe...this one was relatively simple, just took alot of bowls & utensils.  Basically, all I had to do was soak the THRIVE Cheddar Cheese, THRIVE Potato Chunks, & THRIVE Chopped Onions in hot water until rehydrated.  Then I whipped up some THRIVE Sour Cream, which was pretty good.  I love sour cream, so I'm going to make some more and try it once it's cooled in the fridge. 

The recipe called for cream of chicken soup but I was out, so I used some cream of onion soup instead.  I didn't want to have an overwhelming onion taste, so I cut the THRIVE Chopped Onions from 1 cup to 3/4 of a cup. 

The next step was to mix the onions, sour cream, soup, 2 tbs butter & 1 1/2 c of the cheese in a sauce pan & warm it on med-high.  The cheese was sort of clumped together and there was no way I was going to be able to "top with remaining cheese", so I used the full 2 cups of the cheese in the sauce pan and then sprinkled some of my "regular" shredded cheese on top.  I know that was sort of cheating but the point of trying these recipes is to see how they work in real life, not just in an emergency situation.  It also saved me from using all of my $6.00 Whole Foods bag of shredded cheese, so I saved money by just using a small handful on top of the dish.

From there, I combined the potatoes with the mix from the sauce pan and then spread it out in a 9x9 cake pan, sprinkled with a little shredded cheese and put it in the oven at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. 

It was really very good but more like a slightly firm potato cheese casserole than cheesy mashed potatoes, which is what I was expecting.  I think if I had let the potatoes soak a while longer, it would have turned out closer to my expectations.  I'm taking it to work tomorrow so it will "marinate" overnight in the fridge, which might soften the potatoes a bit more. 

Overall, it went very well with my steak and tomato and I plan on making the potatoes for our upcoming family dinner this weekend... I'll just be sure to start the potato soaking early.  :-)

On another note, I'm making some crockpot chili to take for lunch tomorrow and used the THRIVE Red Kidney Beans in it.  I also decided to try the THRIVE Fudge Brownies again, but this time adding an egg for a "more cake like" brownie.  I'll let you know how they turn out.

As always, stay safe & may you & yours be Blessed,
KD

No comments:

Post a Comment