Slvrthoughts and Musings

Description:
Tina and I tried cooking this recipe for the first time last Saturday because we were looking for a recipe that required a lot of milk. Why? 'cause I had a couple of blocks of milk that needs to be used up before expiration, hehe.

We were so surprised at how good it turned out that we had more servings than we originally planned and went to bed quite stuffed and happy.

Warning: Really heavy to the tummy!

Ingredients:
2 cups thinly sliced onion
9 TB unsalted butter
6 TB all purpose flour
3-1/2 cups milk
2-1/2 lb. boiling potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/8 inch thick
1-1/2 cups (6 oz.) coarsely grated sharp Cheddar
crushed graham crackers

Directions:
In a skillet cook the onion and 2 tablespoons of the butter over moderately low heat, stirring, until it is very soft.

In a heavy saucepan melt 6 tablespoons of the remaining butter over moderately low heat, whisk in the flour, and cook the roux, whisking, for 3 minutes.

Add the milk, in a stream, whisking, and bring the sauce to a boil. Simmer the sauce, whisking, for 1 minute and add salt and pepper to taste.

Spread about 1/3 of the sauce in the bottom of a well buttered 3 quart gratin dish, cover it with a layer of potato slices, overlapping the slices slightly, and cover the potatoes with 1/3 of the onions.

Sprinkle the onions with 1/3 of the Cheddar cheese and continue to layer the remaining sauce, potatoes, onions, and Cheddar in the same manner.

Sprinkle the top with bread crumbs, dot with the remaining 1 tablespoon butter, cut into bits, and bake the mixture, covered with foil, in the middle of a preheated 400° F., oven for 20 minutes.

Remove the foil and bake the potato mixture for 30 to 35 minutes more, or until the top is golden and the potatoes are tender.