Potato Gratin with Panko Topping

Simple ingredients that blend together creating a wonderful side dish that is so inexpensive. The gratin dishes I used equals 2 portions per dish. For a total cost of $1.68 and each portion is only $.42. That's a cooking on a budget potato side dish. I will give you the amounts I used for two individual gratins. If you are making more you can obviously use a larger baking dish and about double the other ingredients. Your cost won't go up tremendously.

• 3 medium russet potatoes
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup or more milk half and half
• 1 tsp. fresh or freeze dried chives
• 1 cup panko bread crumbs
• 2 tbsp. Parmesan cheese
• 1 tsp. paprika
• salt and cracked black pepper to taste
• olive oil

1. Wash your potatoes under cold water. Slice them evenly by hand or use a blade in a food processor.
2. Place them in a bowl of cold water and rinse them. Drain well.
3. To the potatoes add salt and black ground pepper to taste, the sour cream and 3 tbsp. of the milk or half and half. Add in the chives and mix well.
4. In a separate bowl combine the panko bread crumbs, the Parmesan cheese and paprika and just enough olive oil to wet them slightly. Mix well.
5. Add the potato mixture to the gratin dishes or your casserole dish. Add enough half and half as they will need the liquid as they cook. The liquid should go up about 1/2 way.
6. Top with the panko topping. Cover with aluminum foil.
7. Bake in a preheated 350° oven for 1 to 1 1/2 hours or however long until your potatoes are cooked through. Test with a knife to see if they are baked through.