POTATO PIE

 Last night my husband wanted to help me in the kitchen. "What shall I do to help you" he asked? I gave him the peeler and asked him to peel the potatoes. He said it was a cinch. He had done it so many times in the Navy. " Good"  I said, "you've got a head start". As he peeled the potatoes,  I told him that I'll get the mandolin. The look on his face was priceless. "Since when do you have a mandolin?" he asked. When I showed him my kitchen mandolin we both laughed. Then I told him that he had to learn how to use it. Well, needless to say he had more fun with it then I thought he would. So we came up with our potato pie.

Ingredients:

4-5 medium sized potatoes washed and peeled                      

2 Cups milk

2 Tbsp butter

2 Tbsp flour

2-3 pods of ground cardamom

1/4 Tsp of nutmeg

1 whole egg

2 Cups of shredded mozzarella (divided)

2 Tbsp of cream cheese (I used Philadelphia)

*salt and pepper to taste

Using the mandolin carefully slice the potatoes very thin and place them in a large bowl filled with water. Let stand.

For the white sauce:

In a medium pan, brown the flour with butter and slowly add milk stirring constantly. It should be in pudding consistency. Add  cream cheese, cardamom, nutmeg and stir until cheese is melted. Let it stand. In a separate bowl beat the egg and add to the sauce, mixing well.

Rinse and pat dry the potatoes in a separate bowl and toss them with sauce and half of the grated cheese, mixing it well.  Place them in an oiled oven proof dish and top it with the remainder of the cheese. Bake in 350 degrees oven for one hour and half or until done.

I served it with roasted pork loin, mint glazed carrots a hardy salad and of course nice bottle of semi-sweet sparkling wine.

Bon Appetite...