Basically a Hamburger Helper type meal.
The main ingredients are ground beef, sliced (scalloped?) potatoes in a cheesey sauce.
I was thinking simmering the brown ground beef and potatoes in a bechamel sauce and when the potatoes are tender turn the heat down to low and throw in my cheeses?
I’ll be throwing in some Rotel and crumbled bacon too.
IDK I’ve never cooked with bechamel sauce before so I don’t know if it’ll work.
Entirely my opinion here, so YMMV.
You may, I say may, have too many dissimilar flavors going into a one pot dish.
If it were me (see disclaimers) I’d scallop the potatoes, layer them with the bacon and a bit of cheese, and simmer them in the bechamel sauce until tender, then add more cheese and broil briefly to brown the top.
At the same time (accounting for finishing both in a timely manner) I’d brown the beef, drain very well, and then simmer the crumbles in the Ro-tel along with some extra seasoning (in my case I’d add additional chopped chiles because ME, and/or some red pepper flakes if I was out somehow) and top with a bit of additional cheese towards the end.
All the same ingredients, but two different dishes so the flavors don’t overwhelm each other.
But, and this is a big one, you have to be careful with most bechamel sauces, because too much heat, or too much setting of the starch and it looks terrible (can still taste great though!). So again, might be less risky to just pour the sauce over the scalloped potatoes/bacon/cheese mix and cook longer and lower rather than any form of simmering on a stovetop. Probably less work too!
Very enlightening. Thanks @ParallelLines
I’m not clear if you intend to boil the potatoes before adding them to the dish, but I would. I’d also cut them into chunks of about an inch on each side first, and let them cool and dry in a colander after boiling in a little salt water.
I’d probably layer the ingredients in a baking dish in this order:
boiled potato
shredded cheddar cheese
browned ground beef with chopped onion, garlic, and a little chopped bacon
more shredded cheddar cheese
another layer of potato
I’d make the bechamel with shredded cheddar as well.
Season to taste with salt and pepper as you layer, then ladle the bechamel over the dish and let it sink in. Give it a shake to fill any gaps and top with another layer of shredded cheddar cheese. Cover with foil and bake for 35-40 minutes at 350 F. Then remove the foil and let the cheese on top brown under the broiler.
Sounds like a glorified cottage pie to me, minus veg like carrots and peas.
I recently tried Hamburger Helper stroganoff but I bought the version with sliced potatoes instead of the noodles. Just the wrong combination of textures in my opinion.
Bechamel is super easy. Throw some butter in a saucepan. A lot more than you’d think, like half a stick or more. Let your inner Julia Child loose! Add flour and stir vigorously until it becomes a thin paste. Keep stirring/whisking non-stop until it’s the color you want. Then just add milk and continue stirring until it thickens up to where you want it. Stir in shredded cheese to make it a cheese sauce.
If you use salted butter and cheese, wait to season until it’s all come together. You might not need much if any additional salt.
Just curious @Grrr - what did you finally end up doing, and how did it turn out?
I cooked the meat and potatoes separately and then made a bechamel sauce separately and poured it over. (As someone up thread suggested)
It was very tasty we enjoyed it. The only thing I did wrong is like cook the potatoes a little too long. But they were not complete mush.
Next time I know to leave the potatoes slightly undercooked before I pour hot bechamel sauce all over them.
Glad it was good! And I wouldn’t worry about the potatoes, I’ve done the same more often than I care to admit. Thankfully, nearly mashed potatoes with a lovely, creamy sauce still tastes great to me as well.
A semi-waxy, like a Yukon gold is normally my choice in those sorts of applications as insurance from overcooking. Even when a bit over cooked they hold together better than russets.
Add some chili crisp oil to any leftovers!