Potatoes Au Gratin/Cheese Question.. Help Needed

Could add sodium citrate to help make the cheese sauce smooth. Only takes a pinch.

This is my recipe and it's always been a hit:

4 Large potatoes peeled, sliced in half lenghwise and sliced thin across them
1 Stick real butter
8 tbsp. all purpose flour
3 cups whole milk
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
2 cups grated cheese----I like a mix of Tex-Mex and mild cheddar

Grease a 9 x 11 baking pan and have your potatoes dry and ready to make the dish.

Heat butter until melted and add flour for a blond roux and only cook for a couple minutes over medium flame. Add milk and bring to a low boil stirring often as it thickens then add the salt, pepper, cayenne and cheese and mix thoroughly until well blended.

Place a layer of potatoes and cover that with 1/3 of the sauce, repeat this 2 more times for a total of 3 layers.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 1 hour. Use a knife to test to make sure the potatoes are done before removing from the oven.

Doesn't that have a chemcial to prevent the shreds from sticking to each other?

quote:

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a chemcial to prevent the shreds from sticking to each other

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You mean starch?

Rat has it right. A pinch of sodium citrate will keep the cheese from separating and you don't have to make a béchamel. You can make it ultra-cheesy. You can always dilute with béchamel you want the goo but not the cheese taste.

Potatoes Au Gratin
3 to 4 medium Russet potatoes, peeled
1 cup heavy cream
½ cup sour cream
1 ½ Tbs flour
1 Large clove garlic, pressed or T minced ½ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
1 Tbs butter
1 ½ cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 tsp parsley
Procedure
Heat oven to 400F.
Cut potatoes into ¼ inch pieces.
Whisk creams, flour, garlic, parsley, salt, and pepper until combined.
Coat inside of baking dish with butter.
Layer potatoes and cream mixture into baking dish.
Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes.
Uncover and bake for 30 more minutes.
Top with cheese and bake until cheese is melted and beginning to brown.

For the potatoes, sometimes I used canned sliced baby potatoes. It cuts the cook time in half.

I don’t think the type of potato would make much of a difference here