I told you I would give you some ideas on how to use up that leftover Easter ham. I didn’t think I would be coming up with an original recipe; however that is exactly what Mauri-1happened. Those of you who know me know that I don’t get overly concerned with the correct “ingredients” for a recipe. I go with what I happen to have on hand. It’s how I roll. I knew I wanted to do something with the leftover ham.  I had some baking potatoes so I thought that would be a good combination. I checked out my cheese supply and saw I had shredded Mexican cheese (a staple in my house) and onions. All seemed good. I was planning on doing a scalloped potato dish with the leftover ham. I decided to add a secret ingredient at the end which caused this to be more like a soup than scalloped potatoes. All the better. Here is my recipe with the secret ingredient.

5 medium baking potatoes
15 oz. of cooked diced ham (mine were larger chunks about 1″)
1/2 medium onion diced
3 Tablespoons butter
2 1/2 cups of shredded Mexican cheese
2 teaspoons of Ham Flavored Soup Base                                        photo (4)
2 Cups of hot water
2 Tablespoons of flour
2 teaspoons of fresh grated pepper (season to taste)

I preheated the oven to 375 degrees.

I took the baking potatoes (unpeeled), I washed them, and put them in a pot, covered them with water, and boiled them for 18 minutes. I removed the potatoes from the water, and allowed them to cool for about 10 minutes. I then cut the potatoes in about 1/4″ slices.

I took 2 cups of water from the pan that I boiled the potatoes in. (No need to waste water–especially when you can capture some of the nutrients from the potatoes) I added the 2 teaspoons of the Ham Flavored Soup Base and stirred until dissolved. I then added the 2 Tablespoons of flour to slightly thicken the soup base.

I took a covered casserole dish (approximately 14″ X 14″ in size), I buttered the bottom and sides of the dish. I put 1/3 of the sliced potatoes in the bottom of the dish. I put fresh ground pepper on the potatoes. I next layered the ham (about 1/3) and onions (about 1/3) on top of the potatoes. I put 4 oz. of cheese (about 1/3) over the potato mixture and then topped the cheese with 1 tablespoon of butter. I repeated this process 2 more times so I had 3 layers of potatoes, ham, onions, cheese and butter. I poured the Ham base mixture over the 3 layers, and put the cover on the casserole dish.
I cooked this in the oven for 50 minutes.

When I removed the casserole from the oven I was pleasantly surprised how everything “melted together”. It was then that I realized this was more like a soup than a casserole. I couldn’t wait to taste it. It was even better than I had hoped, and so easy to make. I had my confirmation when the Butcher tried it and gave it the thumbs up. I told him I had to blog this while it was still fresh in my mind. He told me to go ahead and blog away. He even cleaned up the kitchen. That was when I knew for sure it was a 5 star photo (5)entree.

Hope you enjoy this. I have some more surprises planned for later this week.

Until next time…From our Butcher Block to your Table.