Potato casserole - general principles and methods of preparation
Any national cuisine has in its arsenal rich, economical and simple casseroles - sweet, salty, spicy. They can be based on pasta, cereals, and of course, potatoes. The advantages of casseroles can not be counted: affordable products, quick cooking, simple recipes. Potato casseroles are also very diverse - it can be based on boiled or raw potatoes, mashed potatoes.
The neutral taste of potatoes allows you to combine it with any meat, mushrooms, liver, vegetables, dairy products. Casseroles can be cooked hearty or high-calorie, lean or meat and fat - you can please anyone. Pamper your family at least every day, replacing one filler with another and picking seasonings. It is enough to put the products in a pan or pan and send to the oven - and after a while, a fragrant and tasty dish with a golden brown crust can be served to the table.
Potato Casserole - Food Preparation
Potato casseroles have one wonderful property - you can use leftover products, and thereby save. For example, if you have boiled potatoes or mashed potatoes, a casserole is a real salvation. You can also cook and fry the filling in advance. Minced meat or mushrooms, stewed cabbage, ham, chicken breast slices - the choice is huge. Place a filling between two layers of potatoes and grease with sour cream on top to form a golden crust - this is enough to get a beautiful and tasty dish.
Boiled potatoes are also cut into layers, between which there is a filling. The dish must be kept in its entire shape, so that it does not crumble, fill with eggs mixed with cream and sour cream. Raw potatoes are grated or laid out with thin plates. Grated cheese gives an additional piquant taste and the ability to maintain shape, but you can not use it if you want to get a lower-calorie dish.
Potato casserole - best recipes
Recipe 1: Potato Casserole with Minced Meat
This family meal can be a great dinner or family dinner with any number of people. Eggs loosen the dough and do not allow to turn into a large patty.
Ingredients: minced meat (take beef, but also pork, as well as mixed, 500 grams), potatoes (8-10 pcs.), onion (1 pc.), green onion, egg (2-3 pcs.), cheese ( 100-150 grams), flour (3 tablespoons), salt, pepper, sour cream (2-3 tablespoons), breadcrumbs (2-3 tablespoons).
Cooking method
Peel the potatoes, cook in salted water. Mash and chill. Add eggs, flour, chopped green onions, and mix everything. In a form greased, put some of the potatoes. Pour half the grated cheese on top, followed by ground beef, the second half of the cheese, and the remaining potatoes on top. The surface is well leveled and well lubricated with sour cream. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs on top. We put the baking sheet in the oven and bake the surface until golden brown. We take out their stoves and cover with a lid so that it stands and the layers “stick together”.
Recipe 2: Potato Chicken Casserole
Chicken fillet is cooked very quickly, so it does not even need to be fried. Mushrooms, of course, need to be held in a pan so that they let the juice and brown.
Ingredients: chicken fillet (2 pcs.), potatoes (6-7 pcs.), cream (1 cup), sour cream, flour, cheese (100-150 grams), salt, pepper, vegetable oil.
Cooking method
First, peel the potatoes and cut into circles. Fry in vegetable oil until almost done. Boil the chicken, cut into pieces, cool, cool. Fry the mushrooms in oil, then make the dressing: pass the flour into butter until golden brown, mix with sour cream, cream and pour into a skillet. Stew for 3-4 minutes. If you get a thick sauce - add a little water, salt and pepper.
In a refractory form we spread half the potatoes, then a layer of chicken, then a layer of mushrooms and the rest of the potatoes, pour the casserole with sauce, sprinkle with grated cheese on top. Put in the oven for 15 minutes at a temperature of 190 degrees.
Recipe 3: Potato Casserole with Mushrooms
Some people think that lean foods simply cannot be tasty. But in the case of potato casserole, even they will lose ground. The combination of potatoes with mushrooms is time-tested, like adults and children. This dish will saturate you on fast days, but many will not refuse it on a fast day. Despite the fact that in our recipe there is no meat, it is not really lean - we will add eggs and sour cream to it. If you want a casserole in a monastic way - exclude these products. A rich and inexpensive casserole is always beautiful.
Ingredients: potatoes (1 kg), mushrooms (1 kg), milk (400 grams), cream (100 grams), hard cheese (100 grams), sunflower oil (2 tablespoons), black pepper, salt.
Cooking method
Finely chop the mushrooms and onions and fry in vegetable oil. Stir and keep on fire for about 10 minutes, salt, pepper. Peel and cut the potatoes into thin slices. Beat eggs with milk and cream. Add cheese, pepper and salt, mix. We grease the frypot with butter, lay in half the potato slices, mushrooms. The top layer of potatoes is laid in the form of a chessboard and pour a mixture of eggs and milk. Bake in the oven for about an hour at 220 degrees.
Recipe 4: Potato Casserole with Tomato and Pork
Pork is cooked longer than all other ingredients, so at first we will fry it for a short time in a pan. Potatoes can also not be boiled, just cut it into very small plates.
Ingredients: potatoes (600 grams), onions (2 pcs), tomatoes (half a kilogram), pork fillet (400 grams), butter (2 tablespoons), salt, pepper, thyme, cheese (100 grams), sour cream (half a glass )
Cooking method
Cut potatoes, onions, tomatoes into pieces. Divide the fillet into several thin slices, preheat the oven. Fry the meat in a pan on each side, remove, salt, pepper. Grease a baking sheet with oil and lay a layer of potatoes, then lay out the pork, again potatoes, tomatoes and onions. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, seasonings. Mix the egg with cheese and pour the casserole. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes. This salad casserole is served with any salad.
Recipe 5: Potato Salmon Casserole
If we consider the combination of "potato-fish", the salmon is considered the most successful. However, salmon is mainly sold in the store under the name salmon, which, in general, is not bad at all, since salmon also goes well with potatoes. Delicate fish and potato dishes can take their rightful place in the restaurant menu. In addition to salmon, salmon fish include taimen, some species of trout, pink salmon, chum salmon, sockeye salmon and so on. You can take a cheaper fish: cod, sea bass. Potatoes should be left slightly undercooked, so it will not fall apart if cut.
Ingredients: potatoes (800 grams), salmon fillet (600 grams), cream (125 grams), grated cheese (80 grams), eggs (2 pcs), garlic (2 cloves), butter (2 tbsp), greens, dill , salt pepper.
Cooking method
Wash and dry the fish fillet with a towel. Cut into slices half a centimeter thick, sprinkle with lemon juice. Boil potatoes in their skins for 15-20 minutes. Drain and peel. Chop the garlic, feathers of green onions, fry a little in oil in a pan. Preheat the oven, oil the mold. Cut the potato into slices, lay in the form in layers, alternating with fish fillet. Season with salt and seasoning and sprinkle with onion and garlic. Beat eggs with cream and chop finely. Add cheese and dill. Salt, pepper, pour casserole with sauce. Bake slices of oil on top for 15 minutes. If the base is taken from raw potatoes, cut into slices and lay in one layer on a baking sheet.
Potato casserole - tips from experienced chefs
Potato casserole can be enriched with spices. They need to be selected depending on the type of filling. A great addition to the base - green onions, garlic, caraway seeds, nutmeg, pepper. Ready-made seasonings for vegetables and potatoes are sold in any grocery store, however, the content of preservatives and flavor enhancers make these seasonings standard.
Making a bunch of spices yourself is much more interesting. So the dish never bothers, it has a slightly different taste. You can add ginger, marjoram, thyme to the meat casserole. Oriental flavor is given by coriander and turmeric, France resembles a mixture of Provencal herbs. The Italians cannot imagine their table without basil and oregano. Well, for the Russian taste - dill, parsley, onions. Create your own taste of potato casseroles and let your dish be delicious!
A little bit about potatoes
The UN declared 2008 the International Year of Potato. Experts believe today that this high-yielding crop is a product of the future. It was potatoes that helped to end the scurvy epidemic in Europe. The main cause of the disease is vitamin C deficiency. With the systematic use of potato dishes, the body is fully saturated not only with vitamins C and starch, but also with a huge amount of organic and inorganic compounds.
