Ham and Gratin Potatoes

Two nights ago we had leftovers for dinner with that yummy ham I baked, and instead of making a ham and potato casserole, I warmed up a few ham slices in some leftover ham juice, and then I made gratin potatoes as a side dish, along with some green beans which had also been seasoned with leftover ham juice.  I served a mini-tuscan loaf of bread that had been warmed up in the oven..... yummers, yummers, yummers!  It was the perfect fall meal.... it tasted sooooo good and it made you feel nice and homey.

I thought the gratin potatoes were the rustic element that turned plain leftovers into a more upscale meal.  Instead of making one big casserole for the two of us, I used two separate ramkin dishes... these are of a bigger scale, each dish is meant to feed two people.... they are fluted, oval in shape, about 6"long, 2" deep, and made of a ceramic/porcelain material.  This makes two ramkins, build each layer in each ramkin at the same time.

1.  Heavily butter the ramkin dishes, then coat them with grated parmesan cheese.... same method as when preparing a cake pan.... coat with butter toss grated parmesan cheese inside, being sure to coat the sides of the dishes, tapping out left over parmesan.

2.  Lay a layer of the very thinly sliced potatoes (I used a mandolin to slice my potatoes) overlapping each other in a pretty pattern on the bottom of the dishes on top of the parmesan cheese, lightly salt and pepper each layer of potatoes.

3.  Toss a light layer of grated guyere (or swiss) cheese over potato layer

4.  Repeat from step 2 and 3..... except this time the layer of cheese is grated parmesan cheese instead of the guyere (swiss)

5. Lay last layer of potatoes on top, cover with a piece of foil and press potato layers down firmly with your knuckles.... remove foil..... then lightly salt and pepper, with a mixture of half parmesan and half guyere (swiss) toss cheese on top, dot top with butter.  Mix 1/2 cup heavy cream and 1/4 cup milk (all milk can be used instead of cream), add a tiny pinch of nutmeg, mix well and gently pour over potatoes.  Place in 350 oven for 1 hour.  Tops will be brown and bubbly.  Let set 5 minutes before serving.  Serve, then lick the plate!

The only other perfect dish to go with ham is my Mother-in-laws pineapple casserole, which is sooooo super easy, and so unexpectedly good, all new tasters approach the dish with a cautious snear, but after tasting they usually head back for seconds.  And..... it has only 4 ingredients, is mixed, baked, and served in the same casserole dish.... taking less than 5 minutes preparation prior to baking!

Break 3 large eggs into 9X9 baking dish, add 1/2 cup sugar, mix eggs and sugar together with fork til well blended, add 1 can of crushed pineapple with juice (packed in natural juice, not syrup) and mix well with a fork, add 4-5 slices white bread torn up into bits, (or cut up into cubes) mix well with fork.  Place in 350 oven for 30 minutes, top will be slightly browned.  This is so easy and so inexpensive to make..... you should give it a whirl, it is sweet and kinda like a bread pudding, goes perfectly with pork, especially ham.  Or can be served as a dessert with a dollop of ice cream on the side.

Ham that has been baked on the bone, is one of those leftover items that is yummy every single serving..... like leftover Thanksgiving turkey and all the Thanksgiving 'fixins'!  Ham sandwiches for lunch today and it's getting closer to bean soup with the bone time!

Au Revoir