"A good side dish for most meat" Topic

Ok, this is a thing my mother does that I do too.
It works well for most meats and probebly fish to.

This is a portions for a familiy of 4 if they aren't super eater
First boil some potatos, the better they are the better they taste. The ones I use are so fine you don't need to peel the skin.
once boiled let them cool of then slice them anyway you want I cut them in semi think slices cut diagnoaly so they are kinda big.
Put them i a deep pan it has to have quite high corner becaue you are going to pour sauce over it.
Then make a standard white sauce, mix flour and butter, and stirr in milk unitl you got the right thikness and you have about a liter of sauce.

Then keep the sauce hot while you melt in cheese, I like to use a lot of cheese other not so much. But it's going to be a cheese sauce so you need atleast some cheese. You can use any standard cheese that you like, but shouldn't be that strong in taste so I like to use alot of Edam(edamer) It has a lot of taste but it's not that strong in tate, a round and mild cheese. I also add a litle black or white pepper. Once it has melted in the sauce pour it over the potato slices in the pan, this is why you need a rather large pan as it got to take about a liter of sauce.
It should cover the potatoes nicely. Then make a lid of cheese slices over the pan.
You can either now put it in the oven or wait for it to cool, you could even make this the day before and keep it in the fridge. Anyway preheat the oven to 200c then put the pan in the oven for 20-25 minutes, take it out when the cheese lid is golden and the sauce has started to buble up.
While it's in the oven make what ever you want to have next to it.

Marinaded Chicken brest is very good to it, steak is my favorite. Or meatloaf.
It should feed 4 or give you dinner for 2-3 days if you are alone.
Very good and tastes just as good the nect day

When doing potatoes au gratin, we usually mix onion slices in with the potato slices. Edam would be good, I would think; we usually use Gruyere.

Allen

Not a fan of onion, but some garilc or garlic spice can bee good. Carrots is a possibility.
You can basicly put any vegitable in the dish.

Yep. In the classic French gratin Dauphinoise, you rub the interior of the baking dish with a garlic clove.

One of our favorites is a gratineed golden puree: cooked, mashed carrots and parsnips, with sliced cheese on top: Swiss or provolone works well.

Allen

The missus reminds me that the golden puree gets plenty of butter and a little nutmeg…

Until I worked out I was allergic to dairy something similar used to be one of my favourite. Instead of white sauce I used a mixture of sour cream and I think milk or cream (its been a while. Used to vary what i pout in it. to be good with veges, grated Zucchini, sometimes finely chopped mushroom. Also good with crispy bacon bits.

I am blessed in being married to a trained chef.

She doesn't make a big thing of it, but…

One day middle daughter says 'How many different ways are there to cook potatoes?'

'Six' says eldest daughter. 'Boiled, mashed, baked, chips,roast,fried'

Wife frowns silently. Next day it begins, and every meal after. 167 different types of potato later we beg her to stop. Number 168 is number 167 sliced sideways. Number 169 is number 32 with parsley on. They ALL have names in escoffier, and she WILL be giving us a test….

I still say there are 6.

Pat

" Number 168 is number 167 sliced sideways. Number 169 is number 32 with parsley on."

Much the same thing has been said about the Kama Sutra. That's no reason to settle for a lack of variety.

I kinda like more meat; it seems to be a perfect accompanyment for meat.

Yes it is.
I got three dinners out of it just as good on 2nd or 3rd day.
First day I had steak, then chickenbrest and yesterday pork steak