This weekend was pretty low key. We went out late on Friday but the rest of the weekend we rode the couch like crazy. Watching sports and movies, reading, etc. I purposefully wasn’t on the computer much. It was nice to take a break from everything. Last night we finally made ourselves presentable to the public and got something to eat at Smoke Daddy. Today I’ve been cleaning a bit, doing laundry, watching TV and cooking. I made these Country Potatoes au Gratin, which turned out really great. And I didn’t mind chopping every thing up, since I have a good knife now! I took a walk this morning and it was nice out, sunny, but very crisp and cool. That, with a lot of football on TV, always makes me want to make comfort food like potatoes or chili or something like that.

Click the link below for the Country Potatoes au Gratin recipe (Cooking Light only provides recipes online to subscribers).

Country Potatoes au Gratin
From Cooking Light

Have you ever tried to stuff onion or potato slices into a measuring cup? Ingredients like these are best measured by weight. This filling dish works well as an entrée with a side salad completing the meal. If you prefer to have it as a side dish, it will make 12 servings.

2 teaspoons butter
1 medium onion (about 5 1/2 ounces), thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
4 cups 2% reduced-fat milk
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 ounces all-purpose flour (about 2/3 cup)
6 ounces shredded sharp cheddar cheese (1 1/2 cups), divided
6 ounces diced ham (about 1 1/4 cups)
3 pounds peeled baking potatoes, cut into 1/8-inch-thick slices
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350°.

Melt butter in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic; sauté 5 minutes or until onion is tender. Combine milk, salt, pepper, and flour, stirring with a whisk. Add milk mixture to pan. Bring to a simmer; cook until slightly thick (about 2 minutes), stirring frequently. Add 4 ounces cheese and ham, stirring until cheese melts. Stir in potatoes.

Place the potato mixture in a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle potato mixture with remaining 2 ounces of cheese. Cover with foil coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 30 minutes or until lightly browned and potatoes are tender. Let stand 15 minutes before serving.

Yield: 8 servings

NUTRITION PER SERVING
CALORIES 376(22% from fat); FAT 12g (sat 7.6g,mono 2.8g,poly 0.5g); PROTEIN 16.7g; CHOLESTEROL 46mg; CALCIUM 321mg; SODIUM 727mg; FIBER 3.8g; IRON 1.3mg; CARBOHYDRATE 50.3g

Lorrie Hulston Corvin
Cooking Light, JUNE 2005