CHEESY POTATO BAKE

This is the same recipe as the Cheesy Potato Bake in Chapter 4,
‘For Starters, Mains and Just Desserts’.
2 lb (1 kg) potatoes
Parmesan
Milk
Cheddar cheese
1⁄2 small (5 fl oz/150 ml) carton of single cream (optional)
Nutmeg
Salt & black pepper
Method
1. Wash, peel and thinly slice the potatoes.
2. Layer the potatoes with the grated cheese in a deep-sided
casserole dish and sprinkle with nutmeg, salt and pepper. Start
with potatoes and finish with cheese. (Grate more Cheddar on
the top or use some fresh, grated Parmesan if you have it.)
3. Pour milk into the casserole dish to about halfway up the
potatoes, adding 1⁄2 a small carton of cream to the milk if you
like.
4. Cover the casserole dish with foil, shiny side inwards, and bake
in the oven on Gas Mark 3 (170ºC) for about 1 hour.
5. Remove the foil, turn the oven up to Gas Mark 7 (220ºC) and
cook for another 20–30 minutes until the potatoes are soft all
the way through and the topping is crisp and golden.
Tip
Make your own version of skimmed or semi-skimmed
milk simply by adding cold water to whole milk; roughly
half and half for skimmed milk and 1 part water to
2 parts milk for semi-skimmed. (Eugh is most people’s
reaction to this trick – but only if they know about it.)