Potatoes and Onions
Source of Recipe
Kelli mailto:kcalleri@lutron.com ,wwrecipes - Starters - Cheese Biscuit - December 31, 2001 theme - My Favorite One-Dish Meal
Recipe Introduction
Hello from Bethlehem, PA! My name is Kelli, and this is my first
submission. I'm a married twentysomething knitting freak with no
kids, but a house full of pets with really strong personalities.
Right now, the City of Bethlehem is smack-dab in the middle of a giant
holiday celebration (we call ourselves "Christmas City, USA") and
things are just too much fun. The whole city is covered in lights,
and at the top of the mountain, there is a gigantic star pointing the
way. It's really neat. This recipe is one that my family has been
using for years and years. It's disgustingly simple, and is open to
millions of variations. It's also great for when the cash-flow
situation's bleak, or time is a priority. Thanks, Chef, for such a
terrific ezine, and to Nell, there's a wagging tail from Pedro the Dog
(he's shy, having been a shelter pup and even homeless for a while),
two curious ear sniffs from Maggie and Josie (my cats, who have the
weirdest habits), and a bobbing head from Boris the Iguana (who
considers himself above all the shenanigans of his furry siblings!)
List of Ingredients
(like I said, it's so simple, even the name is boring!)
Serving size: Flexible (see note after ingredients)
Potatoes (my general guideline is 2 white potatoes
for each person)
Onions (1-2 large ones, but again, the amount depends
on how many are eating)
Butter (but I have also used cooking oil, and, in a pinch,
margarine. You just need fat of some sort.)
Salt and pepper to taste Recipe
This recipe is open to interpretation. It can be very plain, for
those who enjoy plain foods, or very elaborate, for the mad kitchen
scientists out there (like me). Here is the way my grandma made it,
with my variations at the end. It serves as many as you would like.
When I am just making it for my husband and I, I use 4 white potatoes
and one medium-size onion.
Peel the potatoes and slice them into 1/4-inch slices. Peel the
onions and slice them the same way. (I have one of those plastic
mandolin slicers that does the job neatly.) In an 8x8" casserole dish,
start layering. I have found that coating the dish with cooking spray
or another grease of some kind helps to keep them from sticking and
helps with the cleanup. Start with an even layer of potatoes, then an
even layer of onions, then a sprinkling of salt and pepper. Now take
the butter and slice it in thin slices. Distribute a few of those
slices over the onion layer, evenly spaced. For an 8x8" casserole
dish, I use about 6 slices of butter, just to cover. Then keep
repeating layers of potato, onion, salt and pepper, and butter until
you run out of potatoes and onions. Cover the dish, and bake in a
400-degree F oven until the potatoes are tender (about 30 minutes or
so). Then remove the cover and bake an additional 10 minutes or so,
just until the potatoes are golden brown.
Variations: You can do just about anything with this recipe, and it
lends itself to all sorts of cooking situations. When we are
grilling, I layer the ingredients on a sheet of tin foil and then make
a packet out of it, and it goes right on the grill. If you choose
this method, make sure your grill is good and hot, and microwave the
potatoes before layering them into the recipe. This will save time
and will not affect the way the final dish comes out. If you choose
not to microwave, and cook the potatoes from their raw stage, slice
them a little thinner, or otherwise, they will have to be on the grill
forever.
This can be seasoned any way you want. You can use olive oil instead
of butter, halved new potatoes instead of the usual white ones, and
add any fresh or dried herbs in addition to the salt and pepper. You
can leave the skin on the potatoes, or peel them, or do half-and-half.
Go nuts. It's just potatoes. They're pretty hard to ruin. One
warning, though-- don't use red onions. The inside of the dish gets
really steamy from the moisture in the potatoes and onions, and red
onions end up turning the whole dish purple. But if you're into that
sort of thing, then go right ahead. But don't say I didn't warn you.
Happy eating, and happy times to all!
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