We all have our favorite comfort food dishes. Something that is easy to cook, filling, and absolutely heartwarming. Some of us go for the usual mac and cheese, others go for a grilled cheese sandwich, but mine is this easy peasy potato with Bechamel dish. I always get excited when my mother says that we’re having potatoes and bechamel for dinner (that’s when we usually have this dish as lunch is always reserved for the usual machboos).
I will admit that this recipe is not going to blow your mind but it is an easy recipe to follow especially for people who are not that experienced in the kitchen. Even I, an amateur, was able to make this. you don’t have to be precise with the number of ingredients and as my mother always says “bel nadhar” which basically means, your eyes will just know. You just need some basic techniques and spices that are available in every household to make it. If you get comfortable with making it, you can then get innovative with this recipe by adding your favorite fillings and spices. I’m just giving you the basics on how to make it and it definitely won’t take you a long time to make with minimum preparations.
Make sure that you unfreeze your chicken and sweet corn before cooking this bechamel. And if you need to disassemble a chicken to get its breast, then do that before cooking. Also, don’t make a huge mistake and preheat the stove to high heat when you add your butter. I learned my lesson after seeing my butter instantly burn when I placed it on my pan. When making the filling make sure you keep staring it in the pan so it doesn’t burn.
The dish size that was used was 10x6.5 inch pyrex glass
Ingredients:
Filling:
1 chicken breast
6 cups of water (1.42 L)
4 large potatoes
1 red onion
3 pieces of white button mushroom
4 tablespoons of frozen sweet corn (56.7 grams)
15 grams of butter (0.529109 ounce)
½ teaspoon of salt (2.84 grams)
½ teaspoon of black pepper (1.17 grams)
1 teaspoon of oregano (1.01 grams)
2 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese (8 ounces)
Sauce:
2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour (16 grams)
2 cups of water (473 ml)
4 tablespoons of powdered milk (31.2 grams)
1 tablespoon of cheese spread (kraft) (14.1 grams)
2 cups of cooking cream (473 ml)
¼ teaspoon of salt (1.5 grams)
¼ teaspoon of black pepper (0.58 grams)
½ teaspoon of oregano (0.51 grams)
15 grams of butter (0.529109 ounce)
Filling
1-Start by preheating your oven to 250 degrees C (482 degrees F)
2- Wash the potatoes and mushrooms
3- Place the 4 potatoes in a medium-size pot and add the 6 cups of water to it
4- Set it on the stove and let the water boil
5- Let the potatoes simmer and check on it every 5–10 minutes by poking it, you’ll know it’s ready when the potatoes feel soft when poking it.
6- Dice the onions into small cubes
7- Slice the chicken into small pieces
8- Cut the mushrooms into small pieces
9- Set the stove to medium heat and add the 15 grams of butter to the pan
10- Start by adding the onions to the pan and start moving it inside the pan with a wooden spoon
11- When the onion starts to discolor a bit, add the mushroom and keep mixing for a good minute
12- Add all the small chicken pieces and keep mixing
13- While mixing them in the pan, add a ½ teaspoon of salt and black pepper and one teaspoon of oregano
14- Add the corn into the pan. You’ll know the chicken is ready when the chicken loses its pink color and the surface becomes beige-ish/ light brown. You can also taste the chicken and see if it’s fully cooked.
Sauce:
15- For the sauce, you first start by heating the oven into medium heat
16- Place the 15 grams butter into your saucepan and let it melt
17- Then turn your oven into low heat and add the flour into the pan, the flour will crumble up with the butter but keep whisking
18-Add your 2 cups of cooking cream into the saucepan and stir
19- Get your 2 cups of water and add the 4 tablespoons of powdered milk and combine them by stirring
20- Add the water-milk mixture into the saucepan.
21- Whisk all of these ingredients and try to dissolve the flour in the process
22- Add the 1 tablespoon of spread cheese into the sauce
23- Add your ¼ teaspoon of salt and black pepper and ½ teaspoon of oregano
The sauce should start to thicken but you don’t want it too thick, it will be more of a creamy texture. If you stop stirring the mixture for a minute and it forms a film, then you know it’s ready.
Assembly:
24- Slice your potatoes and place one layer of sliced potato on the dish
25- Then add the cooked chicken, mushroom, onion, and corn on top of it and spread it evenly into the dish
26- Get 1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese and sprinkle it evenly on the dish
27- Add a layer of the sauce using a ladle and make sure it covers all the ingredients below it, don’t use the whole sauce yet
28- Go ahead and add another layer of sliced potato on top
29- Then add another layer of the sauce on top of the potato
30- Top the dish 1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese
31- Place the dish inside the oven and let it bake for 30–40 minutes
Check on the dish gradually and see if it didn’t burn. It should be ready when the mozzarella starts to melt and it brown’s up on top, getting these dark brown circles.
It’s best served when it is hot. Enjoy!
