Creamy Au Gratin Potatoes - cooking recipe

Ingredients

4 russet potatoes, sliced into 1/4 inch slices
1 onion, sliced into rings (or if you like to mince the onion)
salt and pepper
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400*F. Butter a 2 quart casserole dish.
2. Layer 1/2 of the potatoes into bottom of the prepared casserole dish. Top with the onion slices, and add the remaining potatoes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
3. In a medium-size saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Mix in the flour and salt, and stir constantly with a whisk for one minute. Stir in milk. Cook until mixture has thickened. Stir in cheese all at once, and continue stirring until melted, about 30 to 60 seconds. Pour cheese over the potatoes, and cover the dish with aluminum foil.
4. Bake 1 1/2 hours in the preheated oven.
My Note: Which I'm sure many people are already aware of, is to spray the foil with a bit of cooking spray before putting it on the dish to keep the potatoes and cheese from sticking to it. Finally, we like our potatoes to be golden brown on top, therefore I removed the foil for the last 15 - 20 minutes of cooking time.
12/26 02: I just made this as a side dish to my Christmas ham. I doubled the recipe -- used a lot more pepper than expected -- used Cracker Barrel's Vermont extra sharp white cheddar -- sauteed the onions with some garlic and butter before adding to layers -- and slow cooked in crock pot (oven was full of ham). WOW! This recipe rocked. I loved that it was so user friendly and easy to cook in the crock pot. It is a must have to choose side dishes that can cook in a crock at the holidays.
Update 2/8/05: I do differently that I think makes it better. 1. No onions. (I think they just get in the way of the potato and cheese flavor) 2. Make extra cheese sauce (I think an extra half recipe of sauce will do it) 3. Put extra cheese in the sauce. (at least an extra half cup, but to your taste) 4. Layer cheese sauce between layers of potatoes. (make sure to grease the pan well or it's hard to get off after baked) 5. Sprinkle bread crumbs on top for extra crispiness. I made two huge pans of this for a party with 30+ people and it all went. Definitely a favorite of mine.
I usually make mine by just adding shredded cheese, onion, flour and milk and bake which is delicious but these beat it! Also a great tip, this is the same cheese sauce my family uses for homemade mac n cheese, if you use this recipe and pour it over cooked elbow macaroni and add extra shredded cheese on top then bake just a bit to melt, it's the best mac n cheese you've ever had! You could make a double batch and have the mac the next night with baked chicken.
Modified slightly by sauteeing onions 1st w/a bit of fresh/minced garlic for 4 min to reduce \"raw\" onion taste B4 adding to layers. Also agree to remove cover 15 min B4 serving to get a little crust or add a little buttered breadcrumbs to get a light topping. Convert this side dish recipe to a \"one meal\" casserole by adding left over chunks of ham (from a previous meal). This casserole is then yummy as brunch, lunch or supper.
To me This one was ok but not great using low fat cheese. For some reason the cheese burned on the bottom. I baked it in a glass dish. If I had used full fat cheese I'm sure it would've been fabulous. I save this recipe for special occasions and use the right cheese.