This delicious recipe today comes from a cookery book that I have had in my library since 1971. Yes, I was only 16 years old when I got the book. I have always been a collecter and I have to say that I love the progress we have made in cookery, but there are still a lot of little gems in those older books and this is one of them. The book is called Good Food on a Budget and it is from the BHG cooking library collection of books I collected way back when.
The original recipe called for processed cheese. That's not something we really do or can find over here in the UK. We do real cheese and so I have adapted the recipe somewhat to what I have and what I like to use.
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It's a pretty simple dish, but don't let simple fool you into thinking that it's not delicious, because it is certainly very delicious and yes, economical and yes . . . simple to make.
Cooked potatoes and sliced frankfurters are gently folded into a cheese sauce which has been flavoured with onion and then poured into a casserole, covered and baked . . .
Once the flavours have nicely melded you uncover the dish and let it brown a bit. Oh boy . . . this is some good. I used low fat cheese and milk, and it turned out beautifully. I know hot dogs are not that good for you, but once in a while they are a treat. I used the all beef dinner ones from Costco, and it only took three. Two and a half were sliced into the dish and the other half was cut up and put on top. Deeeee-licious!
*Frank and Potato Bake*Serves 4Printable Recipe
This is a cheap and cheerful, filled with flavor meal!
1/2 pound of Frankfurters(I used Cosco, all beef dinner franks)1 TBS butter1 TBS flour1 small onion, peeled and minced250ml milk (1 cup)120g of grated cheese (I cup)(I used a mix of white and orange low fat cheddar)salt and black pepper to taste1/2 tsp parsley flakesdash of hot pepper sauce4 medium potatoes, cooked, peeled and sliced
Reserve a couple of the frankfurters and set aside. Slice the remainder into coins.
Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the onion and cook, stirring, until the onion softened. Whisk in the flour and cook for one minute. Slowly whisk in the cheese, whisking constantly and cooking until the mixture bubbles and begins to thicken. Stir in the cheese, seasoning and hot pepper sauce.
Peel and slice the potatoes. Fold the cheese mixture into the potatoes along with the sliced frankfurters. Pour into a buttered 1 quart casserole dish. Cover and bake at 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4, for 40 minutes. Take the reserved franks and cut into lengths diagonally. Uncover the casserole and place the franks in a spoke pattern on top. Bake for an additional 10 minutes, uncovered.
Bon appetit!
