Sausage Potato Casserole

Tonight was Sausage and Potato Casserole night. I know what you are thinking, delicious right? Well we made it once before and I remember it fondly, so it probably was. We planned the weekly meals and thought it could be good enough to do again. Don’t know if this is a repeat, and apologize if it is. Anyway, as the end of the week rolls around, Aly remembers she is going out to stay with friends this weekend. So I’m alone. Now normally when alone, I usually just eat whatever we have laying around. Bag of peanuts, pound of carrots, baking chocolate. Whatever. For whatever reason today though, I think because we had bought the ingredients, I decided I'd make the meal anyway. So I apologize now for the pictures, Aly normally does those.

First and foremost, I have no memory of where we found the recipe below. If someone links it we would be glad to repost. I do have some feedback though. 5 Large Potatoes is bull. If someone buys that for this recipe laugh at them. Go with 3 tops. Other than that, its pretty easy. Dice, mix up, bake.

I started by lining the pan with aluminum and then coating in olive oil. I like that this recipe doesn't measure anything, which makes me think maybe I made it up? Anyway, I put some in the pan. Then you get a bowl, dice the sausage onion and 5 large potatoes and throw them in. As you can see my bowl was not big enough. I think I was supposed to skin the potatoes, but as Aly was out I skipped that step. I like the skins on and figure it can't hurt. It was way more potato that needed, and I probably threw a whole one’s worth away at the end. It still piled super high.

Note about sausage. I'd have preferred one that wasn't shrink wrapped, because that sort of meat generally skeeves me out, but our Wegmans refuses to carry anything that isn't pre cooked and pre seasoned. I think they really focus on the “Heat it in a pan and call it cooking” crowd. So this is the one they had.

I put it on bake for an hour, wrote this entry and then threw cheese on. Back in for 5 mins, and then ate. Its pretty solid and I'll have leftovers for the whole weekend.

-Jeff

Note from Aly: I originally found this recipe on Boy Meets Bowl. Jeff did not make it up.
Ingredients:
-1 Pkg Smoked sausage
-1 Large onion
-5 Large potatoes
-Olive Oil
-Paprika
-Dried thyme
-Grated Cheddar cheese

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line casserole dish with aluminum foil and drizzle lightly with olive oil
-Cut sausage into rounds and put into large bowl
-Dice onion finely and add to bowl
-Cut potatoes into 1/2" cubes and add to bowl
-Drizzle sausage mix with a few Tbsp of olive oil and season to taste with paprika and thyme. Toss to evenly distribute
-Bake in oven for 45 minutes to an hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Potatoes should be brown and tender
-Top with shredded cheese and bake an additional 5 minutes until cheese is melted

Loaded Baked Potato Salad

Two years ago Jeff and I went to a friends' place for 4th of July, and they happened to have this magical potato salad from Costco that tasted like sunshine and rainbows. I think I ate my weight in potato salad that day.

I was dismayed to realize that since I do not have a Costco membership, I cannot acquire this potato salad on my own; luckily, I realized we live in a world with internet, so I used the Google to locate a copycat recipe! I actually now prefer to make this potato salad myself rather than try to make shifty deals with Costco members. I mean for the taste, not just because of the hassle and shiftiness of the other option.

I wasn't sure when, if ever, I might get to unveil my delicious potato salad discovery at a family event. I think there is a law of the universe that says every family must have that one member who is known as the Potato Salad Master, and he or she is the only one who may ever bring the potato salad. If I should dare to step on the toes of this sacred bearer of the family potato salad, I would be smoted. Unfortunately for me personally, I do not like the potato salad brought by my family's potato saint; I do not like onions and their salad to me tastes like onion salad with potatoes waved over it for effect.

Then I realized that this person is only on one side of my family, and we have plenty of gatherings on the other side, so I brought the potato salad, darn it! Make way for the new Potato Salad Master!

The pictures in the slideshow are of a batch I made for a family gathering with my in-laws earlier this summer. I'm trying to root myself in as the Potato Salad Master anywhere I can, and so far so good! For that batch, I got into a weird zone when chopping the potatoes and chopped them super tiny. I made this salad again yesterday and didn't go so nuts, and it was still awesome, so don't think you need to get neurotic with the chopping for it. Also, the original recipe includes green onions, and I admit that after having made the copy cat recipe without the green onions (because I don't like them) and trying the Costco again, now the original has too strong of an onion taste for me. As I mentioned before, I am pretty sensitive to onions in potato salad. I did meet the onion people part way by putting a teeny dash of onion powder into mine.

Another interesting fact about this potato salad: it is delicious on hot dogs. I admit I was tipsy when I first thought of this, but I have since tried it sober and it holds up. If you make this potato salad for a cookout and there are hot dogs around, try it. Bun and all.

A few notes about the ingredients I choose: I go anywhere between 2-3 lbs of potatoes, but keep the other measurements about the same. I also have started using that fully cooked bacon that comes in a box because it is at a perfect level of crispness without being charred or black. I use my Pampered Chef chopper (think Slap Chop) on it and get good little crumblies every time. I have used regular bacon though (as seen in the slideshow), but it was so much more of a pain because I couldn't get it cooked enough without it being burnt and sad, so my chopper didn't work and I had to try to chop itty bitty bacon pieces by hand. 

Original Copycat Recipe at No Ordinary Moments
Ingredients:
-3 lbs small red potatoes
-1/2 lb bacon
-1 1/2 cups sour cream
-1/2 cup mayonnaise
-1 tsp salt
-1/4 tsp black pepper
-1/8 tsp garlic powder
-1/8 tsp onion powder
-1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:
-Wash potatoes and chop into 1/4" chunks
-Put potatoes in pot and fill with cold water covering potatoes by 1". Bring to boil on stove top and boil for 5 minutes or until knife goes through center of chunks with no resistance. Drain in colander when finished
-While potatoes are cooking, cook and/or chop bacon
-In large mixing bowl, combine sour cream, mayonnaise, spices, and bacon
-Mix boiled potato chunks well into bowl mixture. Add shredded cheese and mix well
-Chill until ready to serve