Scalloped Poatoes with Ham

I got the original recipe for this meal from foodnetwork. However, reading it over was all it took to realized someone published it in a hurry. The amount of ingrediants seemed off, there was no indication of how much it made or even what size casserole dish to bake it in, and the seasonings were... lacking. Eric and I tinkered with it and I think we've got a creamy, delicious way to use up extra potatoes or ham.


Scalloped Potatoes with Ham
serves 8-10

Onions:

2 medium onions, thinly sliced (I thought this was perfect, Eric thought it was a little too much)
2-3 TBS butter

Sauce:

4 TBS butter
4 TBS flour
3 cups milk
1 1/2 tsp salt (or more to taste)
1/4 to 1/2 tsp pepper (or to taste)

Remaining ingredients:

6-8 small russet poatoes peeled and thinly scliced (circles)
1 LBS ham, diced (pre-cooked either from left overs or pre-packaged. I love having some pre-slicedham in the freezer)
8oz block cheddar, grated (half white and half orange is nice- Cabbot Seriously Sharp is YUM)

1. Grease 9X13 with butter. Preheat oven to 375

2. Melt butter for onions in a large pot over medium heat. Add sliced onions. Stir occasionally, adding a few sprinkes of salt. These will take a while to cook. You want them to carmalize - which means turn light brown. They will cook down (reduce) significantly. When they are done, remove from heat.

3. While the onions are cooking, make your sauce. Heat the butter in a large sauce pan on medium heat until just melted. Add flour, stiring constantly for 1 minute. You might need to turn the heat down a little bit - if it turns light brown that is OK, but by reducing the heat will help. Remove sauce pan from heat and whisk in milk. Return pan to heat (medium) and whisk until it starts to thicken, remove from heat. Add salt and pepper. You'll want to do this right before you assemble because the sauce will thicken and be hard to spread as it cools.

4. Spread 1/3 of the sauce in a 9X13 pan. Top with half the potatoes, half the onions, half the ham, and 1/3 of the cheese. Repeat ending with cheese. This will be your layering:
sauce, potato, onion, ham, cheese, sauce, potato, onion, ham, cheese, sauce, cheese.

5. Bake in a 375 degree oven for about an hour. I covered mine with foil for the first 1/2 hour as it was really stacked high and I wanted to help the potatoes cook and didn't want the cheese to burn.