Scalloped Potatoes and Ham

Barrett Potato Farms- Springlake, Texas

Do you ever look at the grower on that sack of potatoes you buy? I read everything on a label these days, from calorie count to country of origin. Maybe it's because my husband worked many years for a major food company, I do like to support America's farmers. What that makes me is possibly the worst kind of shopper to get behind in the grocery store aisle!

Potatoes make their way into millions of shopping carts every day. It's the old standby for most of us, it goes with practically any meal and there's hardly a person who dislikes them. I'm never without potatoes, I only vary the kind I buy. Right now we have baby reds and russets in the potato bin. How you store your potatoes makes a big difference in their shelf life. When you bring home a bag of potatoes, you need to go through them to make sure there aren't any green, bruised or soft ones. In fact, give that bag a good once over before you leave the store. You can easily spot a bad one. The best tip of all is to find a cool, dark place with good ventilation to store your potatoes. The ideal temperature to store them is between 50 and 60 degrees, the temperature of many garages in the winter is perfect. Transfer them to a brown grocery bag or a cardboard box to keep the light out. A single ripe apple will prevent the potatoes from sprouting since the apple produces ethylene gas and will lengthen the time you can keep your potatoes. Armed with all these suggestions, go ahead and buy that 20 pound bag of russets and reap the rewards of buying in bulk!

When we think of potatoes, Idaho comes to mind... but actually potatoes are grown commercially in 36 states. It's almost the perfect food; fat, sodium and cholesterol free, low in calories and loaded with nutrients. One medium potato has nearly half the day's requirement for Vitamin C and more potassium than a banana. A great antioxidant, potatoes contain glutathione that may help protect against some cancers. That's well worth the 110 calories! You thought there were more calories in there, didn't you? Well, it's what we do with the potato that gives them a bad reputation! By the time we load them up with butter, sour cream, shredded Cheddar and bacon bits... that healthy baked potato is now a full meal of calories! The russett also is the chosen potato for french fries and potato chips, all I can say is... "Thank you Lord" for the potato!

I want to share a great recipe that I found on Pinterest (duh!) It's a Pioneer Woman recipe so you can be assured it is slap dab delicious! She posted this one around Easter, perfect for our ham leftovers. I had never thought of adding meat to scalloped potatoes and serving as a main dish instead of a side dish. It was a BIG hit, what's not to love if you start with potatoes and cheese ;)

Scalloped Potatoes and Ham 

(adapted slightly from The Pioneer Woman's recipe, I halved the recipe since it's just the two of us)

3 pounds Russet Or Yukon Gold Potatoes, Washed Thoroughly

2 Tablespoons Butter

1 whole Yellow Onion, Diced

3 cups Diced Ham

1-1/2 cup Half-and-half

1-1/2 cup Heavy Cream (I used all half and half, I can't imagine how good it would have been w/whipping cream!)

1/4 cup Flour

 Black Pepper To Taste

1 cup Grated Cheddar Cheese

1 cup Grated Monterey Jack Cheese (I used all cheddar, cause that's what I had!)

 Chopped Parsley (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a large casserole dish. 

Heat butter in a large skillet. Add onions and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, or until they start to turn translucent. Add ham and cook for 3 to 4 minutes until thoroughly heated. Remove from heat and set aside.

Combine half-and-half and cream in a microwave-safe container and nuke for a minute or so, until no longer cold. Whisk in flour and black pepper until totally combined. Set aside. (You may add salt, but cheese and ham are salty, so add sparingly.)

Combine the two grated cheeses. Set aside.

Using a mandoline or slicer, slice potatoes into 1/8-inch slices (very thin.) Layer 1/3 of the potato slices in the buttered casserole dish. Sprinkle on 1/3 of the ham/onion mixture, then 1/3 of the cheese, then pour on 1/3 of the cream mixture.

Repeat this twice more, ending with a sprinkling of cheese and a pouring on of the rest of the cream mixture. Cover dish with foil and bake for 40 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for an additional 20 minutes at least, or until bubbly and hot.

Cut into squares and serve. Sprinkle on chopped parsley if you'd like!

(Note: To speed along the process a bit, you may boil sliced potatoes for 3 to 5 minutes before assembling the casserole. Just drain and slightly cool before assembling.)

I used Ree's tip on boiling the sliced potatoes for 5 minutes and it really does make them cook faster and have great melt-in-your-mouth texture. That CAN be a dangerous thing though!!

Print Recipe~

Recipe Puppy

Do you know about Recipe Puppy??? No, you won't have to worry about him chewing up your newspaper or tinkling on the carpet...this puppy is going to make your life EASY PEASY!!!

Recipe Puppy is an ingredient based recipe search engine built by Kris Brower. Recipe Puppy is a tool for finding recipes. Is your fridge nearly empty? You can use Recipe Puppy to find recipes that don't require a trip to the store. It can find recipes that fit your dietary requirements or combine two seemingly unrelated ingredients. Recipe Puppy makes it easy to find the recipes you actually want.

I accidentally found it while searching for something else, I don't even remember now what that was. But as soon as I realized I could type in a few of the ingredients of favorite recipes and it would pull them up...man oh man....I was so excited!

What about that Poppyseed Chicken Casserole that Linda brought us when we first moved to Springdale, all I did was type in chicken, cream of chicken soup and poppy seeds...poof there it was!

Poppy Seed Chicken Casserole

6 Servings

1 Chicken, boiled
1 cn Cream of Chicken soup
1 ct (8-oz) sour cream
1 tb Poppy seeds
1/2 Stack Ritz Crackers(or a little more)
Pick chicken of the bone and tear into small pieces. Place in greased casserole. Mix soup and sour cream; pour over chicken and mix. Sprinkle poppy seeds over, and then cracker crumbs. You may drizzle with some melted butter, if desired. Bake at 350 deg. for about 25 minutes.

What about that Chinese Take-Out Orange Beef that I love so much? Just type in orange juice, beef, cornstarch and ZIP...I have the recipe for tonight's dinner!

Orange Beef
1 lb beef round steak or sirloin, thinly sliced and cut into 3-inch strips
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
2 organic oranges, + zest
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 (1 inch) knob fresh ginger, peeled and minced
1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons dry sherry or white wine
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
2 teaspoons sesame oil
3 cups vegetable oil
green onion, thinly sliced for garnish
1In a medium bowl, toss the meat with 2 Tblsp soy sauce, 1 Tblsp of cornstarch, and the pepper. Marinate the meat at room temperature while you assemble the rest of the ingredients.
2Combine the orange zest, garlic, and ginger in a small bowl and reserve.
3In a medium bowl, combine the remaining Tblsp of soy sauce, and the remaining cornstarch with the orange juice, sugar, sherry, hoisin and sesame oil. Set aside.
4Heat the oil in a heavy wok or pot to 360º. Add one-third of the beef to the oil, one piece at a time (it's important not to add all the beef at once as the temperature of the oil will plummet and the beef will absorb more oil than necessary). Scrape the bottom of the pot as some of the meat may stick. Cook for 2 minutes or until crispy and brown. Transfer the meat with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain and repeat with the rest of the meat. Discard all but 2 Tblsp of the oil.
5Add the orange zest, garlic and ginger mixture to the wok and cook for about 1 minute, or until fragrant. Stir the orange juice mixture and add it to the wok, along with the fried beef. Stir until the sauce thickens, about 2 minutes.
6Serve garnished with green onions.
* For a faster dish with less fat, stir-fry the beef instead of deep frying it. It won't be crispy, but the flavor is delicious. You can also substitute chicken, pork, or shrimp for the beef.

Recipe Puppy, I love you little Buddy!

Marlboro Man

Our neighbors have a new puppy and as cute as he is, I am not tempted to rush out and get one for us. For one reason, our senior citizen Cocker Spaniel is a full time job. He has some health issues with skin and eyes and ears that we treat on a daily basis. Cockers are prone to these, especially as they age. He also takes thyroid medicine twice daily, we have to do the hot dog trick to get him to take it. We love him though and no matter how much work we would never think of giving him away. But we have had to do that with one dog we took in as a stray.

Our youngest daughter Amy brought home the cutest little pup one day from work. It had obviously been dumped and wouldn't have lasted long on a busy parking lot. Our intentions were to find a home for her, but in no time she had worked her way into our hearts! The vet guessed she was part Great Dane and part Catahoula, a breed known for their herding abilities. She got big quickly, you could almost "hear" her growing from day to day. She wasn't an easy puppy to love though, she would bite our ankles, eat the lawn furniture and eventually started attacking our pool cleaner, the machine...not the man! We tried Lord knows, but after nearly a year I put my foot down (she promptly bit it) and said we were going to find her a good home. I advertised her as a healthy, spayed dog who needed a new home on a ranch with room to run.

The very first day a man called with a thick Texas accent.

"Ma'am, I saw your ad and I wanted to know what kind of dog she is?" I told him the vets' best guess was Catahoula and Great Dane. He wanted a good cattle dog he told me and made plans to come by later in the day. My heart fluttered a little as I hung up. I was at my wits end with this dog who just wasn't cut out for city life, but I wanted to find her a good home that would work.

When you live in Texas, it's not uncommon to see the big "Dually trucks," loaded down with bales of hay on flatbed trailers. I could hear his diesel engine when he pulled into the driveway. He left it running and when I opened the door, there he stood... Marlboro Man! He had on jeans and western shirt, leather chaps, gloves and a cowboy hat that was bent and dirty from hands that had done ranch work.

"I've come to look at the dog," he said. I told him she was in the backyard and to just come on through the house. As he stepped into the foyer, I glanced at his boots. They had layers of dried mud caked around the sole. He had a strong quietness about him that made me think Julie had found the right master!

She was chasing the pool cleaner around when we went outside. The hose-like contraption would circle over and over under the water, it had become an obsession with her. She would jump wildly into the pool diving and biting at the "Undersea Monster!" I called to her and she nearly knocked me over coming to a stop a few steps from him. He raised his gloved hand and simply said "Sit." Julie immediately sit, and stayed. It was a miracle, I had never seen her do anything like this. No matter how hard we had tried, we could not tame her wild ways. In one second he had accomplished what we had been unable to do in a whole year.

He explained to me he wanted a good cattle dog that had the stamina to live outside, watch over his property and work the cows. He said, "She'll do good." I tried to give him her outside toys but he declined, telling me they would just be a nuisance for his wife to have to pick up every time SHE mowed....I couldn't help but smile at that!!

"Well then, you'll need her leash," I said as we walked around to the gate. Julie had always been walked on a leash, we'd never let her run loose.

"Nope, she'll have to mind me or this won't work." My heart sank. I just knew she'd take off, never to be seen again. He flung open the gate and she took off like a bullet, all 100 pounds of her. He whistled sharply and motioned for her to get up on the flatbed loaded with hay. She obeyed him like she had been doing it all her life. She easily jumped to the top of the bales and then into the back of his Ford F350, wagging her tail wildly!

As he pulled out of the driveway, the sun was just going down in the West and the hot Texas day was giving way to the cool evening breezes. I stood there and watched as they drove away. Julie never looked back. She was looking forward to new frontiers and her life with Marlboro Man!