Beer Braised Potatoes

What's better than beer, cheese, and potatoes all mixed together? Not much. This is a pretty heavy side dish, we had it with steak and spinach but next time I'd probably opt for something a little lighter with it like a piece of fish or chicken or just a salad.

Adapted from How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman

Ingredients:

2 pounds all purpose potatoes or small red or white potatoes

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 small onion, minced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 cups of beer

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

1 tbsp cornstarch

Salt and pepper

Directions:

1. If using all purpose potatoes, peel and cut into large but bit sized pieces. If using small red or white potatoes, don't peel and just cut in half or quarters depending on the size of the potatoes.

2. Add oil to large pot or braising pan over medium/high heat. Once hot, add the potatoes. Salt and pepper the potatoes and stir to coat with oil. Once potatoes start to turn golden brown, add the chopped onion and garlic. Stir to combine, cook for 1-2 minutes until onion starts to soften.

3. Add enough beer to just cover the potatoes, bring to a boil. Once boiling, turn the heat to medium/low. Stir to make sure the potatoes don't stick to the pan. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are tender, about 20-25 minutes. Add more beer if the potatoes are sticking to the pan.

A note on the beer: use a kind of beer that you actually like to drink. We had some IPA's leftover in our fridge from a friend and thought we'd just use that even though we don't really care for IPA's. The bitterness of the beer definitely stayed in with the potatoes. Next time we'll use something different to avoid that bitterness.

4. Toss the grated cheddar cheese with the cornstarch and add once the potatoes are tender. Stir to combine and melt the cheese. Add a little more beer if they look too sticky, they should be fairly saucy.