[QQQQQ-Trek]

So, what exactly is this food concoction?

I haven't been able to find a name or any references to it anywhere. All I know is that it is something my Grandmother used to make; the only other person that I have met was in his 60's and grew up on a farm where his mother made it for him. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
Part 1:
2 eggs.
8-10 large potatoes, more if they are smaller
All Purpose Flower
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 pound of bacon (optional extra pound)

Part 2:
2 pints of heavy cream, 1 half pound of butter

Required Hardware:
Food processor to grate the potatoes
Cast Iron Skillet, 12 inches should be good
Large nonstick aluminum skillet with a lid, the sides should be fairly tall so you don't make a mess

Have an oven heated to 350° and the cast iron completely lined with 1 pound of bacon. Peel and grate the potatoes. Mix the grated potatoes with two eggs (minus the shell, of course), the teaspoon of baking powder, and add flour. Mix with your hands this and keep adding flour until it thickens up, but the mixture should not be too thick. It should be similar to toothpaste in consistency. If it becomes too thick, just add another egg (although you should add the flour slowly so you don't have to do this).

Now take the potato mixture and add it to the bacon-lined pan, pressing it around so it is even. If you wish, you can also add a second pound of bacon at this time to the top of the mixture, although it is easier to tell when it is done if you do not do this. Bake in the oven until it is golden brown on top. Remove it from the oven and let it cool. Remove from the pan, and cut it into four pieces, separated into two large zip top bags (1 gallon should work) for easy storage, and refrigerate over night.

In the morning, take the non-stick skillet and add one-half stick of butter for each of the quarters that you are going to cook. Melt over low heat while you chunk up the potato stuff into 1 inch cubes, approximately. Add one quarter pint of heavy cream for each quarter of potato stuff and heat on medium heat, covered. Once the sauce thickens up, and another quarter pint of cream for each quarter of the potato stuff and stir until it becomes nice and thick. I usually use a wooden spatula for this, and as the potato stuff softens up, you can use this to break the chunks into smaller pieces.

I will usually do half of the entire thing at one time. Each half will feed three hungry adults, and maybe four less-hungry people.


Note that you can substitute the cream for other milk products down to 2% milkfat. Anything less than that will be to thin to work. The less milkfat you have, the more you will need to add. If you substitute the butter for margarine, it will become oily.