Finally finishing that ham!

Yesterday I finally attempted to do something with the ham I had leftover from the holidays. We have had sandwiches and such, but even though it was a very small ham (very reasonably priced), there was still a lot left. I looked around and found a recipe for a casserole, sort of a scalloped potato thing. Lucky for you, I figured out the down sides to it and fixed it up and now it is ready for me to share.

When you are using ham, keep in mind how it is flavored. Honey ham, smoked, deli, boiled, canned, all of these can handle different seasonings. This is a pretty basic recipe. Should you want to add flavor you could sprinkle in some fresh herbs or cook some mashed garlic with the butter for the white sauce or you could simmer some dried herbs in the sauce before using. This is incredibly simple.

Potato and Ham Casserole

White sauce:

3 Tablespoons of butter or margarine
3 Tablespoons all purpose flour
2 cups of milk
Any flavors you wish to incorporate.

For the white sauce all you do is melt the butter, add garlic if you wish, sprinkle in flour and stir until the flour just starts to brown a teeny bit. I over browned it and it was still good though, so don't worry too much, just keep an eye on it. Once the flour has been cooked, whisk in the milk slowly. This would be the time to add any dried herbs if using. Let simmer a few minutes until thickened.

For the rest of the casserole:

1 recipe of White Sauce
2 cups of finely chopped ham (mine were a little big but don't mince it)
3-4 Medium potatoes (I used russet, but any will work) thinly sliced. (the food processor is great for this if you are lucky enough to have one)
1 medium onion thinly sliced
Any fresh herbs you would like
1/2 cup cheddar cheese (optional)

Butter a casserole dish or baking pan. It should hold at least 2 quarts. Layer some potatoes, Scatter some onion slices, top with ham and add a little of the white sauce. Repeat as many times as you can for dish or pan, stopping with potatoes on top and a sprinkling of ham around the edges. Pour last of the sauce over the top and put some cheese in the middle.
Bake, covered at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 30 minutes.

You are done! Serving this with some vegetables will round out the meal, but you could even experiment with putting some vegetables inside the casserole. This is a very flexible and simple dish. Oh, and did I mention that it is pretty frugal? The only expensive item is the ham, but you can use cheaper ham such as boiled or canned and use some flavorings. I also suggest some ground pepper to your taste.