Cheesy Potato Goodness

My son is in Agora Cyber School(Online charter school in Pennsylvania).  Coming from WAVA(Washington Virtual Academy, online public school in Washington) it's really behind academically.  He's registered as an 8th grader.  But is now taking 9th grade English Comp, 10th grade Honors Geometry and they just contacted me to say that maybe he should be in 9th grade Earth Science.  Of course they have to talk to the high school first.  I told my son not to get his hopes up since it's taken them this long to figure out what class he should be in.  He's been so frustrated this year with how slow the curriculum is, the idea of going to high school in yet another assignment gave him a spark of hope.  I just hope they don't come back with some lame excuse.

So I let my son pick what we had for dinner.  He decided today we should have Cheesey Potato Goodness, lol.  It's what he calls my Sausage and Potato Casserole.

Sausage & Potato Casserole

3 cups of White Potatoes, skins on and cubed

1 lb Smoked Turkey or Chicken Sausage, cut into diagonal sliced 

1 tbsp Olive Oil

2 tbsp of Hard Cider

4 tbsp Butter

4 tbsp Flour or Ground Chia Seeds

2 Cups Milk

1/2 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp Paprika

1/4 tsp Pepper

1/4 tsp Dried Mustard

1/2 cup Shredded Sharp Cheddar

2 Green Onions, sliced

3/4 cup of Dubliner Cheese

Bring 6 cups of water to a boil.  Boil potatoes for 10 minutes.  I partially cook the potatoes before baking them, to make sure none of the potatoes are crunchy.  Also to remove some of the starch from the potatoes.

While the potatoes are cooking.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees f.  Over medium heat, add the olive oil and sausage and saute it for about 5 minutes or until browned on both sides.  When the potatoes and sausage are done cooking place them in a greased 9x12 baking pan.

I deglaze the pan with the cider.  Basically removes the yummy little bits of caramelized meat that are stuck to the pan.

This is my current favorite cider.  It's made with organic apples and it's gluten free unlike a lot of other ciders.  I buy it at Whole Foods.

Next add the butter and the flour and make a blonde roux.  A roux is basically when you melt the butter, add the flour and whisk till smooth.  You fry the flour till a desired color is reached.  I fried mine till it turned a light brown color.  Sorry my camera ate the pictures, next time I make this I will add them.  Add the milk and whisk till it is incorporated and smooth.  It should look like a thin gravy.  Add the salt, pepper, mustard and paprika, once it is thoroughly mixed add the sharp cheese.  After the cheese has melted, pour your cheesy mixture over the sausage and potatoes.  Mix till all the potatoes and sausage are covered with the cheesy mixture.

Next top with the green onions and Dubliner cheese and bake for 35-40 minutes.

I never let my school interfere with my education.

--Mark Twain