Scalloped Potatoes & Ham

I've run across some evidence in my research indicating that scalloped potatoes may have originated in ancient Wales or other parts of the British Isles. However, I'd bet good money that the addition of cubed ham and cheese to them makes this dish quite an American original! Outside the Midwest heartland of the U.S., this dish is thought to be primarily served at holiday feasts such as Christmas or Thanksgiving. But it's a supper-time staple throughout the year in the Midwestern states. "Scalloped" potatoes do not actually contain scallops - the term scalloped originally referred to seafood creamed and served hot in the shell.

You'll need an electric slow-cooker for this recipe!

Ingredients:

1 lb. (453.6 g) ham, cut into ½" (1.25 cm) cubes
8 to 10 medium potatoes, thinly sliced (see notes below)
2 white or yellow onions, peeled and thinly sliced
16 oz. (457.60 g) sharp Cheddar cheese, grated
1, 10-oz. (300 ml) can any brand condensed cream of celery soup
salt & ground, black pepper to taste
paprika

This is the size and thickness you want your ham cubes and potato slices!

Preparation:

Put half the ham, potatoes and onions in the slow-cooker. Sprinkle with salt and pepper,then with grated cheese. Do the same thing with the other half of the ingredients. Spoon the soup straight from the can evenly over the top (don't add any water to it!); sprinkle it all then with a good dusting of paprika. Cover and cook on the "low" setting for 8 to 10 hours (or for only 4 hours on the "high" setting). The ingredients may be cut in half, or increased by half, depending on how many mouths you have to feed and the size of your slow-cooker! This recipe yields a good 6 to 8 helpings.

Mmm . . . hot and hearty, this dish is savory and satisfying!

Notes:

A waxy potato (red or white skinned) is recommended - these are the best to use when solid slices are required, such as in this recipe.

Tip:

The day before cooking this, I cut up the potatoes, put them in an air-tight container with water just enough to cover them (to keep them fresh and prevent them from getting brown as they sit), and store them overnight in the fridge. I also cube the ham, wrap it up and stick it in the fridge overnight. That way, all I have to do the following morning is slice the onions (I don't cut them up ahead of time because cut onion stinks to high heaven!) and grate the cheese before I put everything into the slow-cooker for supper later in the evening!

If you have the kind of slow-cooker that has separate, removable crockery, it's perfectly fine to cut up everything and prepare it for cooking the night before, storing it in the refrigerator with the lid on overnight (I put the crockery in the cooker around 9:00 a.m. so that it is ready by 6:00 p.m.).

Slow-cookers are a really nice, hands-off way of cooking things like this dish, but it requires an act of Congress sometimes to clean them up afterwards! I use slow-cooker liner bags made by the Reynolds company that seem to be readily available in most American super markets (usually in the same aisles as the foil and cling-film are sold). Lining the crockery of your slow-cooker with one of these bags before filling with your ingredients makes clean-up a cinch; you just pull out the bag, throw it away and wipe out the pot with a damp paper towel. So be sure to check the shops where you live to see if they sell anything like them that you could use!

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