Cheesy-potato casserole (from our Easter dinner)

When I brought the Cheesy-Potato casserole to the Easter table, my guest sitting to the left of me exclaimed, "oooh, what's in those?!" Big, big hit for Easter dinner. Even with a table full of other dishes, salads, and trays, we went through 2 quarts of this Cheesy-Potato Casserole.


If you'll remember, several weeks ago I wrote a post about using up some wrinkly potatoes and freezing them. I had made mashed potatoes, adding some of the last of the cream cheese and sour cream, plus plenty of butter, some salt and milk. I froze these mashed potatoes in quart-size containers.

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The day before Easter, I thawed two of those quart-size containers. I put them in my stand mixer and whipped them back together (the liquid separates out from the solids in mashed potatoes when freezing/thawing).

I stirred in 1 & 1/2 cups of shredded cheddar-jack cheese, and a very large handful of freshly cut chives, minced (about a cup of minced chives).

(I took about 1 & 1/2 cups out to test bake that day, adding a handful of cheese as topping. It was a bit soupy going in to the oven, but came out perfectly thick after baking.)

So, with the larger casserole, it too was a bit soupy when first assembled. I buttered a 2-quart, round casserole dish, scooped the potato mixture into this dish, covered and refrigerated overnight, until an hour and a half before Easter dinner. It had substantially thickened overnight.

I topped with another cup of grated cheddar-jack, and baked for about 45 to 50 minutes in a 350 F degree oven, until the cheese was just beginning to brown.

I don't have any photos to share, but it did look (and taste) delicious. Not a speck remained at the end of dinner.

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For your own information, you could easily duplicate my potato dish. Mash about 8 potatoes, with 2-4 ounces of cream cheese, 1/3 cup sour cream, 1/4 cup butter and milk and salt to taste and texture.

Stir in 1 cup of minced chives and 1 cup or more of shredded cheddar or cheddar-jack cheese.

Spoon into a buttered casserole dish. Top with another 1 cup of shredded cheese.

Bake in a 350 F degree oven for 40-45 minutes, or until cheese topping is bubbly and lightly browned.



A real man-pleaser, that's for sure! I think these will become a "regular" on our Easter dinner table.

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6 Cheap & Cheerful Suppers, 1 not-so-cheap Easter dinner

Wednesday (about $1.80 for 5)
minestrone soup (using lots of leftovers from the fridge and freezer)
scratch cornbread squares topped with melted cheddar
scratch chocolate cake (from freezer) topped with blackberry coulis (frozen blackberries pureed with some blackberry jam, and other fruity liquids from the fridge and freezer, such as leftover cranberry sauce from previous week).

I have to give credit to Kris, here, on the cake. She made mention of serving cake with just a bit of topping, and not full-blown frosting between layers and all around. That inspired me to do a much simpler topping for this cake, for a weekday dinner dessert.

Thursday (about $2.15 for 5)
turkey in gravy over
brown rice
mustard glazed carrots
cabbage slaw

Friday (about $1.85 for 5)
kale frittata
leftover Yorkshire pudding and brown rice (need to use those up)
chunky marinara sauce and cheese over frittata, and Yorkshire pud/rice
sauteed onions and peppers

Saturday (about $1.65 for 5 -- I was cooking all day in preparation for Easter, so dinner was a hodgepodge of stuff)
garbanzo bean salad in a mustard vinaigrette, with chopped carrots, celery, asparagus and shallots
deviled eggs
potato casserole (part of Sunday's casserole, baked up in a small baker)
watermelon pickles
rhubarb sauce (I cut too much rhubarb for Sunday's pies, so made sauce with the extra)

Sunday (about $13.00 for 9)
Savory Spiced Peanuts
ham
cheesy potato casserole
cold marinated asparagus and celery salad
dinner rolls (brought by friends)
tossed salad (brought by friends)
watermelon pickles, carrot sticks and deviled eggs
scratch rhubarb custard pie
bought vanilla ice cream

Monday (about $3.45 for 5)
Denver omelettes (ham, green pepper, onion, cheddar-jack cheese filling)
brown rice, all topped with food processor salsa
leftover rhubarb pie

Tuesday (about $1.50 for 5)
rice and beans (cooked in turkey fat/oil and with spices, onions, garlic and canned tomatoes)
topped with food processor salsa and cheddar-jack cheese
cabbage and celery slaw
slivers of pie drizzled with homemade blackberry syrup

*none of the estimated costs include beverages, usually milk for 3, water for 2. Tack on another 30 to 40 cents per night for the milk. And with Easter dinner, we also drank 2 bottles of Martinelli's sparkling cider, at $1.99 per bottle, making Sunday's Easter dinner cost about $17 including beverages.

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