Au Gratin « Oklahoma Pastry Cloth

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Dehydrating Series Pt II – Potatoes

Thursday, January 13th, 2011

A Big Spud in a Little Jar

I’m going to get right to the point today as a continuation of Part I with photos of how to dry potatoes. Potatoes are one of my favorite garden items and I devote an entire bed to both red and Yukon Gold spuds. These “new” potatoes take a little longer to dry than the traditional Russetts which I am demonstrating here. Also, at the end is a recipe in which to use the sliced and dried potatoes. My next post will be about drying peppers and then you’ll get a recipe for broccoli cheese soup made from all of your dried veggies that will have your family licking the pot. So keep following!

Peel potatoes

Thinly slice potatoes

Or you can dice the potatoes. Here, I am using my grandmother’s old french fry cutter – it even has a wooden red handle…and dice by cutting across the potato strips

In a large bowl, rinse potato slices under water, strain and rinse again until water runs clear and all of the starch is washed off.

Bring water to a boil in a large stock pot. Pour potato slices or cubes into the boiling water. Allow to parboil for 2 minutes. Drain and put parboiled potatoes into ice water in a large bowl until totally cooled.

You can add a tablespoon of Fruit Fresh or other citric acid product to the water for added protection against discoloration, according to directions.

Spread the potato slices or diced pieces onto a large towel to dry. Roll the towel up to squeeze as much water out as possible

My dehydrator came with a plastic tray to place inside of the larger trays to make fruit rollups. However, I have found that it is also a wonderful edition when drying veggies or fruits that can fall through the cracks when dried all the way. So, I put the tray over the main motor housing of my dehydrator and stack the larger trays on top of that. If anything falls through the cracks it is caught in the fruit rollup tray and easily transferred to a bowl when the drying is finished.

You can lightly spray your racks with oil if you are worried about easy removal of your dried fruits or veggies.

Evenly spread diced potatoes on the racks and stack racks

Dry overnight or for 12 – 15 hours. Potatoes should be hard

Dried potato slices should look like potato chips

Store the dried potatoes into jars and seal with a vacuum sealer or just place a lid and ring in place and fasten tightly. Heavy weight plastic freezer bags work well too

Au Gratin Potatoes

(Or as my friend Janis calls them, “Old Rotten Potatoes”)

1 pkg Shawnee Mills Country Gravy Mix
2 1/4 cups water
OR make 2 cups of your own white sauce from your favorite recipe
1 cup dried sliced potatoes
1/2 medium onion
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 tbsp Hormel Real Bacon Bits or 3 slices bacon chopped into pieces
French’s French Fried Onions

Pour potatoes into boiling water and cook for 15 minutes

Make gravy according to directions, adding 1/4 cup more water – or make your own white sauce. I like to use the gravy mix because (1) it is fast and (2) it is low fat and low calorie. Add shredded cheese to the sauce and stir until totally incorporated into the sauce.

Slice 1/2 onion into rings and place half of them into the bottom of a small baking dish. This is a 1 quart dish. Pour 1/4 of the cheese sauce over the top of the onions.