12/21/2022 – Mary made up this casserole on her birthday to take to the UBC Wednesday Night Supper this evening and it was great. The dish was moist and chunky with no sauce as in a typical casserole. Each bite tasted like baked potato improved by the slightly brown surface of the potato chunks. We will make this again for potluck dinners and, if I am lucky, just for us.

Ingredients

• 3.5 lbs. Red Potatoes cut into bite-size pieces and sprayed with olive oil.
• Approximately 1 cup of green onions from the grow boxes
• 12 oz. of thick slice bacon
• 1 cup Sour creme
• 1 cup Blue Plate Mayo
• Sharp cheddar cheese grated in the bag from the store
• Salt and pepper

Assembly

1. Brown the bacon in a 400° oven on wire racks. Save maybe ¼ cup of bacon grease to drizzle on the baked potato pieces. (Put the rest in the bacon fat keeper…of course.)
2. Season the potato pieces with kosher salt and fresh coarse ground black pepper. Bake at 350° until browned and tender but firm. After they were done drizzle with the saved bacon grease
3. Blend the sour creme and mayo while the above is in the oven
4. Mixed the sour creme and mayo with the baked potato pieces
5. Blend in a handful of bacon pieces and some green onions
6. Pour all into the 9×13 Pyrex baking dish. It will be about half full
7. Sprinkle remaining bacon pieces and green onions
8. Sprinkle on the grated sharp cheddar cheese
9. Let it rest until time to bake it so it is hot when it arrives at the Church supper

Next time:

• Could add some spicy cajun sausage and cayenne pepper left out as it is for the Alabama church folks most of who do not like any kick.
• Coat the potato pieces with olive oil before baking rather than spraying the tops of them in the hot sheet pan as done above. This could be a good time to sprinkle on some cayenne pepper to be carried in the oil with the black pepper. Could then go full “Prudhomme” and add some white pepper.
• There was room in the pan to hold the 5 lb. bag of potatoes and all the other ingredients could have been increased by maybe 25-30%. But, it might have been less firm when cooked in the approximate 1.5-inch relatively thin layer in the 9×13.