"Boxed" Potatoes Au Gratin (from fresh)

• 2.5-3 pounds thin peeled and sliced red potatoes
• cooking oil spray
• 1lb. fresh grated Cheddar or 2 packets Daiya non-dairy cheese sauce
• 1 tablespoon bullion paste
• 1 small can diced green chiles
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 lb. crispy fried quartered and sliced smoked sausage or crispy crumbled bulk sausage, ham bits, pork necks, whatever
• 1 tablespoon fermented chili paste
• Pepper to taste, white pepper works well
• ~5 diced green onion and/or 1/2 cup French's Fried Onion garnish

Back to freaky town ideas, only this one's not so freaky because I've done several batches of this, it's a keeper:
It has that boxed potato burney-chewey texture, all the way through. We're making our own dried out potato discs, to reconstitute later in the baking sauce, to obtain that magic texture.

2-3 lb red or Yukon potatoes, peeled and sliced super thin on a mandoline, or like me, the side of a box grater that looks like a cheese slicer. It makes about 2-3mm thin slices once you get the hang of it. Be prepared to lose a fingertip.

I clean the racks of my toaster oven and lightly oil, then lay them out like poker chips or roof tiles, densely as possible even slightly overlapping, then spray lightly with cooking oil, and bake at 425F, with the door cracked open the first 10 minutes. They start to dry out and fry and get bubbly and golden, similar to Hawaiian Kettle Potato Chips, almost. About 15-25 minutes, keep an eye on them. They don't need to be THAT dry, but at least halfway and golden brown edges. Dry enough to rattle :)

I don't like to waste a mixing bowl, so I mix all this in the casserole pan:

For the cheese, use a pound of fresh grated cheddar, or if you can't like me, Daiya Cheddar Cheese Sauce is an almost perfect replacement, similar to the goop that comes with Kraft Shells and Cheese, or Velveeta. I use about 2 packets for this.

Then the Loaded Goodies: bacon bits, fried diced ham, sauteed onion and garlic, bulk sausage, smoked sausage quartered and diced, broccoli, mushrooms, crispy burger, pulled pork etc.

For seasoning, if any is needed, I like some gochujang (Korean fermented chili garlic paste), bit of fish sauce or shrimp powder, tablespoon of bullion paste, Hatch green chiles or hot sauce, ground chipotle or smoked paprika, black pepper and Cavendar's Seasoning.

You could probably work in a can of black beans or baked tofu for more protein and even eggs if you want to go Frittata style. Frozen broccoli, peas and carrots, green beans, kale and mushrooms play well for more veg, but cook them first with minimal moisture when you add them.

Bake at 400F for 20-30 minutes until it looks awesome. Let cool about 10 minutes, then serve, or toss and garnish with green onion and/or French's Fried Onions, and white pepper. I'm bagging them with some Chinese style slowcooked and grilled chicken drumsticks I made yesterday, for freezing.

These taters have real texture! Not soft, but toothsome, crispity-chewey sometimes, and super satisfying. Sky high umami levels. What happened is the dried out chips soaked up the moisture and delicious grease from the cheese sauce and meat and onions and/or other vegetables.

I wish you all good carbcheesing.