CHEESY HASHBROWNS FOR A CROWD RECIPES

Steps:

• Line electric roaster pan with roaster liner. Spray liner with non-stick cooking spray. Be sure you use a roaster liner as there is nothing worse than cleaning an electric roaster pan that has baked on hashbrowns!
• Stir together cream of chicken soup, sour cream, milk, garlic powder, onion powder and pepper in a large bowl until well blended.
• Pour half of the hashbrowns into roaster pan. Add all of the soup mixture and stir well. Use a wooden spoon to stir so as not to tear the roaster liner.
• Add in remaining hashbrowns and stir well. Pour in about 1/4 of the cheese at a time and mix well until you have stirred in all of the cheese.
• At this point, you can cover the hashbrown mixture with Saran wrap and then aluminum foil and refrigerate overnight if you have access to a commercial refrigerator or remove the drawers from the bottom of your refrigerator and set the roaster pan in the bottom of the fridge.
• When you are ready to bake the hashbrowns, remove from refrigerator, put some hot water in the bottom of the electric roaster (about 2-3 cups) and set the roaster pan into the roaster. Remove Saran Wrap and foil and put cover on roaster.
• Set roaster at 350--check and stir after half an hour--if the hashbrowns seem to be bubbling along the edges of the pan, turn the roaster down to 275. Continue to cook for about 3-4 hours, checking and stirring every half hour. Be sure you stir with a silicone spatula or wooden spoon as a metal spoon will rip the roaster liner and you will have a mess!
• For the Legion convention meal, we doubled this recipe and made it in two electric roasters. We served this with a 4 oz. portion scoop and got 75 servings from each roaster.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
• Spread hashbrowns in an even layer in the bottom of the prepared pan.
• In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, salt, onion powder, garlic powder, pepper and cayenne. Pour over hashbrowns.
• Sprinkle with half of the cheese, all of the bacon, then the remaining cheese. Cover tightly with foil.
• Bake for 1 hour, then remove foil and bake for another 5-10 minutes, or until center is set and a knife inserted in the casserole comes out clean. Let stand 5-10 minutes before serving. Garnish with chopped green onions, if desired.