Cheesy Potato Goodness

My son is in Agora Cyber School(an Online charter school in Pennsylvania).  Coming from WAVA (Washington Virtual Academy, an online public school in Washington), it's really behind academically.  He's registered as an 8th grader, even though he was in 7th grade back in Washington.  But he is now taking 9th grade English Comp, 10th grade Honors Geometry, and they just contacted me to say that 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 weeks 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 Cheesy Potato Goodness, lol.  It's what he calls my Sausage and Potato Casserole.

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Sausage & Potato Casserole

3 cups of White Potatoes, skins on and cubed

1 lb Smoked Turkey, Chicken Sausage, or my Vegan Beer Brats, cut into diagonal slices 

1 tbsp Olive Oil

2 tbsp of Hard Cider

4 tbsp Butter

4 tbsp Unbleached Flour or Ground Chia Seeds

2 Cups Milk

1/2 tsp Pink Salt

1/2 tsp Spanish Paprika

1/4 tsp Black 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 ensure none of them 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 sauté 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.

Vegan Beer Brats

I never let my school interfere with my education.

--Mark Twain