just doing my shopping list, if you were making a potato bake type thing . . .

[lucysmam]

would you use cream or a condensed soup or a cream of soup or what?

I thought cream but might be a bit heavy . . ?

tia

I'd use a tin of condensed mushroom soup

No PLEASE don't use soup. It is full of shite salt and additives. Use cream or a mix of cream and milk. At least they are natural and they taste MUCH better.

wot smugcolditz said

they don't, you know, additives taste nice, and so does salt.

I layer onions and potatoes and then do eggs and milk and nutmeg and cheese and pour that over.

They do. All you need to do is crush a clove of garlic and add a bit of salt and pepper and a stock cube if you must. If you can do that it means that you can cook something decent for your family.
It just drives me mad when I see recipes with condensed bloody soup in them, its not necessary, it is as easy to do it properly.

Ingredients of Campbells Cream of Mushroom Soup:
WATER, MUSHROOMS, WHEAT FLOUR, VEGETABLE OIL (CORN, COTTONSEED, CANOLA AND/OR PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED SOYBEAN), CREAM, SALT, CORNSTARCH, MODIFIED FOOD STARCH, DRIED WHEY, SOY PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, MONOSODIUM GLUTAMATE, DRIED DAIRY BLEND (WHEY, CALCIUM CASEINATE), SPICE EXTRACT, YEAST EXTRACT, DEHYDRATED GARLIC.

oh yes, i put garlic in too

there's a lot of STUFF in there Carmenere, think I'll go with cream. Not really clued up on what some of those things are n never read lablels tbh but I'll give your recipe a go. Thanks all

I didn't mean to be a food fascist, I do eat the odd convenience product, I know what it is like to be wrecked and just want to shove something in the oven. But these cans of soup really irk me because they are just a result of excellent marketing by Campells (and it is a very American phenomenon that is taking hold over here) . And it really is so much nicer to make your own.

I'm getting better in the kitchen, thats why I asked n you're right, it's not hard really. Will look forward to trying it

Luc. I love yuor voyage of discovery!
I'd go with cream too, maybe a bit of grated cheese as well?

I just use a little bit of milk to add moisture (cream is too rich - barf). Salt & pepper, lots of thinly sliced onion (red onion if I'm in the mood), maybe some garlic and top with grated cheese for a bit of a crust. Yum.

How do you make a 'potato bake type thing?' sounds like the kind of thing I should know how to do...does it freeze?

Deffo cream not soup. Rub your baking dish with butter and a clove of garlic. Thinly slice potatoes and layer them with cream and grated gruyere, plus chopped garlic if liked and salt and pepper. End with more cream on top, then more gruyere and bake for at least an hour. Yum!

moondog, I'm learning how to make loads of yummy stuff! It's fab!

cream n cheese on the top sounds good! & I prefer red onions so maybe pop a bit in too, was thinking of popping a leek or 2 in it.

Yes, leeks and cream and cheese are fab together.

Another really easy version of this sort of flavour is to bake jacket potatoes, then scoop out the flesh and mix with grated cheese and sliced leeks that have been gently cooked in butter. Stuff it all back into the potato halves then bake until brown on top.

I layer the potato with leeks, lob a few sliced mushrooms in and some chopped, lightly fried bacon.

Bang in cream, loads of fresh pepper and a big handful of grated cheese.

I'm hungry.

Do you mean one of those finely sliced potato bake thingies - gratin de pommes or something?

I just use finely sliced potatoes (obviously), lots of finely sliced onion, bit of garlic and some single cream (maybe a bit of cheese sometimes, gruyere or cheddar)

What are you going to have with it?

oops, just remembered pommes are apples!

I do sliced potatoes baked with grated cheese, spring onions and cream

you just need cream and/or milk, salt and pepper, and layers of onion and potaot (I add sweet potato too). I amso sometimes substitute the garlic for a grating of nutmeg instead.

I would steer clear of the condensed soup, surely that overpowers what should be a very delicate tasting dish?

Potato Dauphinois, is that what you mean?

I add grated cheese too.

250ml each of milk and double cream in saucepan with 4 garlic cloves thinly sliced and 2 bay leaves, simmer for 5 mins, take out bay leaves, season with salt and pepper and a grating of nutmeg if feeling flash.

Pour over thinly sliced potatos bake in oven for approx 50 mins at 180, basically keep checking to see if theyre cooked by piercing with knife.

Add parsnips or celeriac to potatos for a bit of variety or use up the ones slowly wrinkling in veg box like me

flippin gorg

I've used chicken stock before layered with maybe small bits of bacon, grated cheese and onions or whatever you fancy.This is also nice topped with some breadcrumbs( mixed with melted butter to make them crunchy). I've also made Nigella's recipe( where she boils the potato slices with the cream first before bunging it in the oven) and instead of cream have used
1)creme fraiche thinned with some milk
2)herb and garlic cream cheese whisked with some milk instead of cream and it was lovely.

BTW Lucy thanks for starting all these threads looking for ideas, i've got some great recipes as a result