Potatoes au Gratin

Meatloaf...humm side dish of potatoes?  I thought of mashed, but we like gravy with mashed potatoes, can't make gravy from meatloaf!.  A lightbulb came on and Potatoes au Gratin came to mind.  Gather up the ingredients and let's get cooking!

• Two russet potatoes
• 1 Tbl. flour
• 1/2 C heavy cream
• 1/2 C whole milk
• 2 cloves garlic
• salt & pepper
• Grated sharp cheddar cheese

Peel the potatoes and slice thinly using a mandolin--if you don't have one, just slice them thinly with a knife.

Flour,salt, pepper, and minced garlic go into a bowl.  Then pour in the milk and cream and whisk it all up!

In a foil lined baking dish, start layering 1/3 of the potato slices.  I like to line with foil because cleaning up a baking dish after baking these potatoes is too much work.  Pour 1/3 of the flour/milk mixture over this layer.

Continue layering like this until all of the potatoes are used up, and the last of the flour/milk mixture is poured over the top.  BTW, those aren't flour lumps, it's the minced garlic.  Cover with foil and bake in a 400 degree oven for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, take the potatoes out of the oven.  I decided not to use the grated cheddar, instead, I topped the potatoes with homemade bread crumbs.  (Go ahead and use the grated cheddar if you like cheezy potatoes)  Back into the oven they go uncovered for another 20 - 30 minutes.  Watch closely, if the bread crumbs start to brown too much, cover with foil.

When the potatoes are tender and the sauce is all bubbly, they are done!  Along the way, if the potatoes and sauce start to look too dry, just pour in a little more milk.  I ended up adding another 1/2 Cup of milk.

Dinner is ready.  The meatloaf baked along with the potatoes, we also had steamed green beans.

yum, Yum, and YUM!  Dinner friends!

Here's an easy meatloaf recipe:

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
• 1 egg
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup dried bread crumbs
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons prepared mustard
• 1/3 cup ketchup

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, combine the beef, egg, onion, milk and bread OR cracker crumbs. Season with salt and pepper to taste and place in a lightly greased 5x9 inch loaf pan, OR form into a loaf and place in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking dish. 
3. In a separate small bowl, combine the brown sugar, mustard and ketchup. Mix well and pour over the meatloaf.
4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 1 hour.