Cheesy Baked Potato Casserole and the Sucre Milk Chocolate Collection Giveaway!

Smokey, Cheesy, Goodness!

It's Day 5 of Casserole Week with Creole Contessa, and I am ending Casserole Week with a bang! Not only did I create a Cheesy Baked Potato Casserole, you still have time to enter (entry at the bottom of page) the Sucre Milk Chocolate Collection Giveaway!

This is a simple casserole dish, but a few key steps are required to make this dish a little bit more fancy...

I start by cutting my potatoes thin with my mandolin, you can use a knife to get the same results, about 1/4 inch thickness is required.

Then I soak the cut potatoes in water with apple cider vinegar for about 30 minutes to remove the starch. Also, boiling the potatoes for about 10 minutes help them bake up that much quicker. 

Hey, you know we had to fry up some crispy bacon, in a little olive oil. Yes, reserve some of the bacon grease to cook the veggies in!

It's that simple, then we add a little flour and then it's time to start making the sauce.

Key step!  Use good cheese! Please people, use good cheese, it's take this dish, from good to great! I used Gouda, Sharp Cheddar, Jack Cheese and Brie...You pick the cheese you like and it will turn out great.

Look at this sauce, I added heavy cream and Greek Yogurt to give it a nice creamy texture. I love Greek yogurt, especially in sauces... The great people at Chobani sent me tons of Greek yogurt and I make sure I use it whenever I can.

O.K. this is a money shot! Look at the cheese dripping. And of course all that bacon can't hurt!

Cheesy Baked Potato Casserole

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Servings: 6

Ingredients:

3 lbs. russet or Idaho potatoes, sliced 1/4 inch thick
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup Gouda cheese, grated
1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1/2 cup jack cheese, grated
4 oz. Brie cheese
1/2 cup Chobani Greek yogurt, plain, low fat
1 lb. bacon, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
1 bell pepper, diced
1 small white onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 stalks of green onion, diced
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon creole seasoning
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
1/2 tablespoon dried oregano, crushed
1/4 cup flour
extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Mix Gouda, sharp and jack cheese together and set aside.


Rinse potatoes and slice 1/4 inch thick using a knife or a mandolin, place sliced potatoes in cold water with apple cider vinegar. Allow potatoes to soak 30 minutes, drain, rinse, place in a large pot of salted water and boil for 10 minutes. Drain potatoes and set aside.

In a medium pan, add about 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil over medium heat, add bacon and cook until crispy about 8 minutes, remove bacon, place on paper napkins to drain.

Reserve 2 tablespoons of bacon grease in pan, add bell pepper, white onion, and celery. Sauce for 5 minutes, add garlic and saute 1 minute more.

Add flour and seasonings and whisk well for about 3 minutes. Add heavy cream and whisk well. Add brie and about 1 cup of Gouda cheese mix and whisk well. Add Greek Yogurt and mix well.

In a 13X9 or slighter smaller greased casserole, add about 1/2 cup of cream mixture to the bottom of casserole.

Layer potatoes, 1/2 cup more cream sauce, 1/2 cup of cheese blend. Repeat, ending with cheese sauce and grated cheese on top.

Sprinkle cooked bacon and green onion on top. Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes, remove foil and bake an additional 5-10 minutes.

Allow casserole to sit for about 15 minutes, before serving. Enjoy!

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