Ham & Potato Casserole

2 cups peeled, sliced potatoes (about ¼” thick)

1 cup of peas and carrots (frozen or canned (drained)

3 tablespoons butter

2 cups cubed fully cooked ham  

¼  red onion, chopped
1/4 cup butter

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 cup milk, or more as needed

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Place potatoes, peas and carrot in a large pot and cover with water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until tender. Drain and transfer to a 2-quart baking dish.

Melt 3 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat; cook and stir ham and onion until tender, about 5 minutes. Transfer ham mixture to baking dish and mix with potatoes.

Melt remaining 1/4 cup butter in a skillet.  Stir flour in melted butter until smooth. Gradually stir in milk.  Add salt and black pepper. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, until thickened, about 2 minutes. Add Cheddar cheese; stir until melted. Pour cheese mixture over ham and potatoes.

Bake in preheated oven until bubbly, 25 to 30 minutes. Allow casserole to rest for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

Comment:  This recipe originally called for celery and carrots.  I made the change to peas and carrots.  I increased the amount of onion using red to give it even more flavor and eliminated the bread crumbs that topped the dish.  It turned out easy to make as well as delicious.  You can bet I'll be making this again.  My food testers loved it too.  If you want to add back the bread crumbs you can but I think I would add it during the last 5 minutes and use panko for the crunch.

Green Spinach and Ham

1 pkg (12 oz.) frozen, chopped spinach, thawed & drained
1 pkg (8 oz.) Taste of Inspirations Cherrywood Smoked Boneless Ham Steak, cut into small pieces
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup biscuit mix (or self rising flour)
1 cup small cottage cheese
1/4 cup milk
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a 9 x 9 x 2 baking dish with cooking spray.  In a large bowl mix spinach, ham, onion and 1/2 cup of the cheese.  Pour into prepared baking dish.  Mix together biscuit mix (or flour), cottage cheese, milk and eggs.  This spoon over spinach mixture and spread evenly with the back of the spoon.  Bake 40-45 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.  Top with remaining 1/2 cup of cheddar cheese and bake another 5 minutes or until cheese melts.  Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

The idea for this recipe came from a cheezy ham and broccoli dish that I found in an older cookbook.  I made the change from broccoli to spinach, used regular cottage cheese instead of creamed and left out the red pepper.  It turned out delicious!  I've heard back from 2 of my food testers and they loved it.  The ham I used was some I found on sale at Food Lion.  I had never tried it before but it will now be a staple in my refrigerator.  The flavor is delicious and the price is good too.

Ham and Rice Casserole

1 cup uncooked rice
3 cups left over ham, chopped
1 head broccoli, chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream (evaporated milk will work)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (divided 1 1/2 cup and 1/2 cup)
French fried onions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cook rice according to package directions.  In a large bowl combine cream, soup and 1 1/2 cup cheese.  Add hot rice and stir well.  Fold in ham and broccoli.  Pour into a 9 x 13 x 2 baking dish sprayed with non-stick spray.  Top with remaining 1/2 cup of cheese.  Bake 30-40 minutes or until cheese has melted and the dish is bubbly.  Sprinkle with crushed French fried onions.  Serves 6-8.

Comments:  While looking through my freezer for something to cook I spotted a bag of ham that was left over from Easter.  I scanned through a 1974 cookbook looking for a recipe to make using the ham and spotted a recipe for Scalloped Potato an Ham.  Well, I had 4 potatoes and didn't want to use them so I decided to use rice in their place.  The recipe called for cream of celery soup but I spotted a can of cream of mushroom to use instead.  While looking for cheese I spotted some fresh broccoli that needed to be used so decided to add that to my dish.  I also doubled the amount of ham and increased the cheese from 1/2 cup to a total of 2 cups.  Yep I love cheese.  Well, this combination was far from being the one I found in the cookbook but it sure turned out delicious.  Plus it's cheap and easy to make.  If you don't have left over ham buy a ham steak and you're all set.

Ham Oven Omelette

10 eggs

1/3 cup milk

1/2 tsp. salt

3-4 cups leftover ham, chopped into bite-size pieces

1 (4 oz.) can black olives, drained

1/2 cup bell peppers, chopped

1 med. onion, chopped
2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 cup Colby-Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
sour cream, optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Saute onions and peppers in oil, about 5 minutes.  Coat an 9 x 12 x 2 in. baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.  In a large bowl, combine eggs, milk and salt. With an electric mixer, beat until foamy. Stir in ham, olives, peppers and onions, and cheese. Pour into prepared pan. Bake in preheated oven for 40 to 50 minutes, or until eggs are set in the center.  Serve with sour cream.  Serves 6-8.

Comment:  Yep, this is a made over recipe.  I had leftover ham from Easter and wanted to do something good and different.  I remembered an omelette that I sometimes order for breakfast - called a Western Omelette - and decided this would be perfect.  The original was called Oven Omelette and used bacon which I changed to the ham.  It called for chopped tomatoes and spring onions which I eliminated and used the bell peppers and onion instead.  It was simply delicious and is great for breakfast, brunch, lunch and even dinner.  

Ham Chowder

1 ham steak, cut into bite size pieces (or leftover ham bone with meat)
3 cups water
1 pkg (1 lb.) mixed broccoli and cauliflower
2 potatoes, cubed
1 scallion
salt & pepper to taste
1 - 2 Tbsp. flour (Rice flour)

In a large pot  bring ham and water to a boil.  Lower heat and simmer until ham is tender and starting to fall apart (about 1 hour).  Add broccoli & cauliflower, potatoes and scallion.  Mix flour in 1/4 cup of water until blended.  Add to pot.  Allow to cook until it thickens.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Comment:  This is a soup I made up when cleaning out my freezer.  I had a ham bone with very little meat but had a ham steak that would make up for the lack of meat on the bone.  I cooked the bone and steak for about 1 hour giving a delicious flavor to the water.  I had originally planned on using broccoli only but spotted a bag with broccoli and cauliflower so decided, why not.  The added potatoes gave me just one more texture as well as taste as did the scallion.  I used rice flour to keep this dish gluten free and must say that it works perfectly.  One thing I've noticed about rice flour is that it seems to help keep the flavors of the other ingredients separate.  Don't know why but it does.  You can add more or less flour, and even corn starch to reach the thickness you like best.

I almost didn't add this recipe to the site.  I love the taste of broccoli and cauliflower and both are really strong so I wasn't sure how well these flavors would go over, but... my food testers agreed that this was a recipe that had to be shared.  It was delicious to me as well as to them.  Hope you enjoy as much as we did.

Broccoli Chowder (1984 cookbook)

2 lbs. fresh broccoli
2 (13 3/4-oz.) cans chicken broth
3 cups milk
1 cup cooked, chopped ham
1 cup half & half
2 cups shredded Swiss cheese (I used cheddar)
1/4 cup butter
salt & pepper to taste
(3 Tbsp. corn starch - my addition)

In a large pot combine broccoli and 1 can of broth.  Cover and cook 7 minutes or until they are crisp tender.  Remove broccoli; col and chop coarsely.  Add other can of broth, milk, half & half, ham, salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil.  Stir in broccoli, cheese and butter.  Stir constantly but don't allow to boil.

Comments:  This recipe came from a cookbook dating 1984 called The Enlightened Gourmet.  I love broccoli cheese soup and this one had the addition of ham that I hadn't tried before.  It is delicious!  I added the corn starch to thicken it just a little and that worked good too.  Also this called for Swiss cheese but I'm a cheddar lover so I did make that change too.  I'm sure the Swiss is delicious but I also have problems getting Swiss to melt smoothly so that was another reason for my using cheddar.  The flavor of this soup is so good.  The only other change I might make would be to add a few chopped leeks to the broccoli.  I don't think it could get much better than that.

Comment from Carol:  My mother is a great fan of broccoli soup and has been quite an authority on it over the years.  Today she pronounced this is the best broccoli soup she has ever had!  She especially liked the addition of the ham to an already solid friendship between broccoli and cheddar.  Martha has told us how to thicken the soup according to our tastes (by adding a little corn starch) and it allows us to choose degrees of thickness.  This is a delicious soup and now I know that it is the recipe we will follow form here on out!

Cheezy Bacon Grit Muffins

1/2 lb. bacon, fried and crumbled
2 pkg. (individual size) instant grits
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
1/2 cup shredded cheese
1 cup self rising flour

Make grits according to directions on package. Add milk, egg , cheese and flour. Combine until moistened. Fold in bacon. Line muffin 12 muffin tins with paper liners. Spray with non-stick spray. Divide mix equally into muffin tins. Bake 20 minutes in a 400 degree oven

Try this with sausage or ham. It's good no matter what type of meat you enjoy for breakfast.