Cooking with Paula: Potato Casserole

I will say, up front, that Paula Deen is one of my favorite tv people in the world. She goes into that category of people who can show up at my door for dinner whenever she wants. I know we'll have a great time. If you've seen her shows, you know what I mean. This is a lady who truly TRULY LOVES being in the kitchen, and putting it forth for friends and loved ones (aren't they the same?). She also understands, that when we cut to the chase, what we all really WANT to eat is stuff that on one level is not good for us. Fact is, most things that are "not good," for us, are at least ok for us, if you don't insist on eating four pounds of them. So it is, with the dish that follows.

I will confess that these days, I really don't get to watch her tv show very much. I can't figure out programming on the food network anymore, and I frequently find myself doing something else. So when a friend told me about this recipe, I had to look it up. And when I did, it was clear that I had to make it. This is the ULTIMATE comfort food. Look at the ingredients: potatoes, including TWO KINDS. Cheese. Bacon. How could this be bad for you? I am coming more and more of a mind that if it makes you feel good, eat it. I could go for a big bowl of this stuff right now.

You will need 2 cups of mashed potatoes. Now, here's your first clue that this is comfort food. First of all, it gives you a chance to make extra mashed potatoes when you make them. Who doesn't love mashed potatoes? You also need sour cream. People say that Paula Deen is the queen of excess. Well, I'm going to out excess her. Her recipe calls for half a cup of the stuff. When I made it, I didn't measure. I just slathered it on. Maybe I used a cup. Maybe I used more. I don't care. You also need about a teaspoon of salt and a half teaspoon of fresh ground black pepper. Paula uses garlic powder, but I don't like the stuff, and I left it out. She calls for a red pepper, sliced thin. I can't bring myself to use the foreign grown peppers that we get this time of year, so instead I used three peppers from a jar of Italian peppers under oil, and a sliced red onion.
Now, things get good. You also need a stick of unsalted butter. Finally, boil yourself up four medium sized potatoes. I used yukon golds (my all purpose potato), and cooked them, in their skins, in salted water. When they were about 3/4 done, I let them cool, peeled them, and sliced them about a quarter inch thick. And... you need a nice amount of grated cheese. Paula calls for 1.5 cups of grated cheddar. I just took a block of colby cheese - about half a pound - and shredded it all.

Now, we start cooking. Preheat your oven to 350. Melt the butter in a pan, and cook the onion and pepper in it, at medium low heat, for about five minutes. Get a baking dish, and spread out the mashed potatoes. Spread the sour cream on them. Sprinkle the salt and pepper over that. Now, add the vegetables, but hold on the butter. Add the potato slices, on top of the vegetables. NOW pour on the butter. Finally, sprinkle the cheese over all of this, and put it in the oven for about thirty minutes.

While it's baking away, fry up a half pound of bacon. I repeat what I have said about cooking bacon: it will work much better if you add a little fat to the pan, and let it get started in that. The fat seems to draw out more of it, and gives you a nice, crispy final product.

Drain the excess fat off of the bacon, and when the casserole comes out, crumble it, or spread it, heck just get it on top of the cheese.

Now, is this good eating, or what? GO to it. It's supposed to serve six. Betcha you can't get that many servings out of it.