Possible Allergy warning – please read all recipes carefully
and be aware of any allergies or sensitivities that may affect your health and well-being

******************************

Please Fave the original Here

A new dish from !

******************************

The main dish for a combination Easter and Birthday party that Vrghr cooked up for friends this weekend.
(You can find the cucumber salad side dish here: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/46838658/ )

Ham is a somewhat traditional dish for Easter celebrations. But this was the first time Vrghr was cooking at this particular friend's house, and wuffy wanted to make something that would be extra easy on the kitchen, with not too much going on at the same time. Would make it easier for Vrghr to find his way around a new kitchen, while making it easier on the home owner in the prep and cleanup phases.

So wuff took the idea of traditional ham and a potatoes side dish, mixed it with a much-loved Scalloped potatoes casserole, and combined everything into a layered poatoes, cheese, creamy white sauce, and ham casserole. This made enough to make two huge 9X13 pans full, so it will easily feed 10+ folks. We were only feeding 7, so there were plenty of leftovers for everyone to take home.

This is also a very simple dish to create! The toughest part is mixing up a nice big batch of white sauce to spread between the layers, and grating the blocks of cheese. Wuff used Deli Ham slices for simplicity, along with some sliced Deli cheese along with the grated cheeses, to kick up the rich cheese flavors.

To further kick up the flavors, Vrghr used 2 different types of sliced ham; Black Forest and "off the bone" types. But you can use what flavors you like best. Wuff would recommend avoiding the "honey ham" types, as the extra sweetness might fight a bit with the other more savory ingredients. But a smoked ham would do nicely. And you might like the touch of sweetness, so "you do you!"

Wuff's chose the following cheeses for this: Cheddar Jack, Low Moisture Mozzarella, sliced Munster, and sliced Gouda. Once again, pick cheese(s) that you enjoy. This particular assortment turned out VERY nice, but it is by no means the only combo that'll work. Just try to stick with roughly the same amount, but even that isn't hard and fast. You can "cheese things up" if you roll that way! *grin*

This will keep pretty well, and freeze up too for leftovers. But if you are feeding smaller groups, you might want to consider cutting the amounts in half.

The guests really loved this dish! Everyone had seconds. Rich, creamy flavors with a great combination of cheese, potato and ham.

Many also recommended keeping some of this for breakfast, and serving it with a fried or poached egg on top> And they were RIGHT! This would make a fabulous breakfast casserole!

Vrghr dose recommend spreading some foil on the bottom of your oven or putting raised-side cookie sheets under the casserole pans, as these DO boil over while baking. And burned melted cheese and cream sauce in the oven doesn't smell great, and is a bit of a chore to clean up later.

Give this dish a try if you're looking for some easy, tasty comfort food with a nice ham flavor. It's pretty simple in wuff's scale of kitchen skill needs, so should be achievable by even beginner cooks.

Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS:

3 lbs sliced Deli Ham (wuff used Black Forest and "Off The Bone", but others will work)
5 lbs Russet Potatoes, peeled & sliced 3/8 " thick
3 lbs assorted Cheese, sliced or grated (wuff used 1/2 lb Gouda, 1 lb Cheddar Jack, 1 lb Low Moisture Mozzarella, and 1/2 lb Munster)

(For the white sauce)

2 med Yellow Onions, peeled & diced
3 TBS minced Garlic
1 1/2C Heavy Cream
2 C Whole Milk
1 C Hot Water + 3 tsp Better Than Bullion Chicken Base (or Ham base) (Can sub 1 C Chicken stock + 1 chicken bullion cube)
1 stick Butter
5 TBS Flour
4-6 sprigs fresh Thyme
1-2 Bay Leaves
1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper
1/8 tsp grated Nutmeg

~2 tsp White Pepper (to taste)
~1 tsp fresh grated Black Pepper (to taste)
~ 2 tsp Salt (to taste)

DIRECTIONS:

Peel the potatoes and (using knife or mandolin) slice them about 3/8 Inch thick. Try to be consistent if using knife, so they all cook at the same rate. Place slices in bowl of cold water to keep from browning while you get the rest ready

Grate the block cheese and reserve in a medium bowl

Peel the two onions and dice into about 1/4 in cubes

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees

In a medium-large sauce pan over medium high heat, melt the stick of butter until foaming. Add the salt and diced onions and stir and cook until the onions all turn translucent and soft. Add the minced garlic, white, black, and cayenne pepper. Continue to cook for another 2-3 minutes until garlic is fragrant but not browned

Add the flour and continue to cook another 2-3 minutes to remove the raw flour flavor. Add the cold milk and cream, fresh Thyme sprigs and bay leaves, and grated nutmeg, and stir all together. Allow to cook, stirring to keep from scorching the bottom, until the sauce begins to thicken and boil. Add the chicken stock/bullion+water and stir in. Reduce heat to low and continue to simmer while all the flavors combine and the sauce completes thickening.

Sauce should be a medium thick gravy that will flow over the layers of casserole. If too thick to spread by itself, add a bit more milk and/or chicken stock, 1/4 C at a time, until it reaches desired thickness. Taste for seasoning, and add salt, black, and white pepper as needed.

Remove from stove to the assembly area to prepare the casserole(s)

NOTE: When you're dishing out the sauce, watch for the bay leaves and Thyme sprigs and remove them!

Drain the water from the potato slices and bring to assembly area

Butter 2 each 9X13 casserole or cake pans.

Spread a light layer of the sauce on the bottom of the pan. Cover with a layer of potatoes and another light layer of sauce. Top with a layer of all your cheeses (make sure you use some of each spread across each layer). Cover with a layer 2 slices thick of the sliced ham (if using more than 1 type of ham, add 1 layer of each)

Repeat with another layer of potatoes, sauce, cheese and ham, then do 1 more layer of each. End up with one last layer on top, a light layer of sauce, and a sprinkle of cheese (to brown up in the oven)

Butter or use cooking spray on a sheet of aluminum foil and cover the casserole, butter side down

Repeat it all for the second casserole

Bake at 375 for 2 hours, or until a sharp knife slides easily into the casserole without resistance. For the last 1/2 hour - 45 minutes, remove the foil on top to allow the cheese to melt and brown

When the casseroles are finished, remove rest for at least 15 minutes to allow the cheese and sauce to set up so portions will stay intact (and you won't lava-burn your mouth!).

Portion onto plates with a light green or cucumber salad (see wuff's here: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/46838658/ )

!DEVOUR!