Holiday Cheesy Potatoes

Cheesy Goodness… and Potatoes!!

A hoy-hoy and welcome back!!! Today we are going to dive back into the cooking pond! I was given this recipe from my mom. She received the recipe from a friend she used to work with. Apparently, the story goes, my mom and dad went to this woman’s house. She made a roast. However. This woman evidently did not cook the veggies and potatoes with the roast. She made them separately. One of the side dishes was this potato dish that they so aptly named, “Cheesy Potatoes”. LOL. It’s kind of like Tolkien naming the huge, imposing mountain, Mount Doom – am I right? HAHAHA. Sigh. 

Anyhoo. Since I was small, I can remember enjoying this side dish with most every holiday meal. Therefore, I shall rename this dish: “Holiday Cheesy Potatoes”!! I know, that was thrilling. I’ll give you a minute to recover from the excitement. I’ll wait. 

“Why include these,” You ask? BECAUSE they are rich, creamy, and sinful with half and half, cheese and potatoes. All cooked and melded together to create a thick and buttery dish that has people coming back for more and asking for you to make it… at every holiday, ever, until the End of Time. You’re welcome. There are some tips and tricks that I have learned throughout the years of making these. It sounds pretty straightforward, however, I have encountered some glitches. No big deal, nothing to turn off this blog about, just some stuff I thought I would share for when you go to make these bad boys. 

First things first, the ingredients!

1 pint of half and half (2 cups)

3/4 cup of butter (6 Tablespoons)

1 cup of cottage cheese – full fat

1/2 pound of American cheese (about 7-8 slices)

1 pound of Southern Style hash browns (find in the frozen section)

That’s it! Now, the instructions:

1. Pour half and half, butter, and cheese into a pot. Turn on heat and cook until butter and cheese have melted; stirring constantly. 
2. Once the cheese and butter have melted, turn off the heat. Add cottage cheese and still-frozen potatoes; stir together. 
3. Place this concoction into a 9×13 inch glass dish that has been greased. Let sit for one hour at room temperature. 
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake, uncovered, for between one and one and a half hours. 
5. Cool for 10-15 minutes. Enjoy! 

Step By Step:

Step One: Step one is easy and just follow the instructions. I have a couple of pictures to show you before and after melted. Just keep stirring to make sure the cheese doesn’t melt to the bottom of the pot. Then I turn off the heat. 

Alternative Ingredients: I don’t. At all. And you can ask me all day, every day, “but what about this kind of cheese or this kind of potato or this kind of goats milk half and half??”. NOPE. This I am stuck in tradition. The original is awesome and it works. Honesty, if you tried another type of cheese, I don’t know if it would melt and thicken like American cheese. Potatoes. I can attest that you really should just use the southern style hash browns. My friend made the recipe and bought shredded hash browns on accident and it didn’t work and she said it took more than a pound and the consistency wasn’t right (it was looser and watery). So. You can try other artisan blah, blah, blah. I cannot attest to how it will turn out, therefore, you cannot yell at me. LOL. But if you want to, try it and let me know! I probably still won’t do it, but it would be nice to know if it can be done! LOL 

Step Two: ….

Step Three: Again, pretty straightforward. Place in a greased dish (I have a picture to show you) and let sit out, uncovered, for one hour. This is to allow the ingredients to meet and become the bestest of friends, EVER. Meaning, you’re letting the ingredients meld together and thicken slightly. 

Step Four: Okay, this is where I have had “issues” in the past. Let me explain:

Following Directions as Written: When I follow the directions, letter by letter, I still end up usually needing to give this dish another 15-30 minutes or so in the oven to thicken and bubble… please see pictures I provided to show you what the dish should look like when done.

Doubling the Recipe: Yeah. So. For Christmas, I have, of course HAD to double this recipe. If you double the recipe, don’t make it the night before. Also, the amount of time will need to extended as well. I am usually the last to arrive on Christmas Eve because of these damn cheesy potatoes and needing extra time in the dang tootin oven. Whatever. It’s fine. Just try for two hours in the oven. What you are looking for is, again, as I have shown you on the pictures taken. Bubbling and thick, with almost no sauce left. 

Making the Recipe the Night Before: I have made the regular (and double) recipe the night or day before and then placed it in the refrigerator until it was time to bake. I don’t do this anymore. It just takes too long to bake in the oven and the end result, no matter how long this sucker is in the oven, is still a little bit more watery than I like it to be. It still tastes good, but not the same. If you do not heed my warnings and make it the night before? Take it out of the refrigerator and let it sit out 2 to 3 to even 4 hours before placing in a 350 degree oven. Also, again, time in oven will increase. It always has, no matter what I have done. 

Regular Batch: go with one and a half hours, then check. If not done, keep checking every 30 minutes until thick and bubbly.

Double Batch: Check after two hours has passed. Then check every 30-45 minutes until thick and bubbly.

Now, all this being said. No matter, what, it has worked out and these are so damn good, people didn’t care and ate them. No matter what. That’s how good they are. So, don’t panic if any of this happens to you. They will still ask you to make them… they still ask me! HAHAHAHAHA.

So, that’s it! Not too bad! I hope you try this recipe. Really. People LOVE it and are always asking me to make it. I remember people asking my mom to always make it too! I hope you have enjoyed this and once again, thank you so much for reading!! 

PS- I know I left Step Two blank…