I created this meal right around Christmas, and included it in our healthy weekly menu plans (that we send each week to members!). My idea then was to use up Christmas leftovers — whether ham, turkey, or roast beef — or even pieces of bacon or sausage. My family loves it so much; I make it all the time. But who wouldn’t love creamy, cheesy potatoes tossed with tender chunks of meat? Comfort food at its best — and most easy.
Make it any time to use up whatever bits of meat you have (or leave out the meat and make an amazing side dish or this root vegetable tartiflette), but also keep it in mind a few months from now when you’re wondering what to do with your Easter celebration leftovers!
Scalloped Potato Meal
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons grass-fed butter
- 2-1/2 pounds baking potatoes peeled, sliced thinly (about 7 to 8 small)
- 1 onion yellow or white, sliced thinly
- 4 cups meat leftover ham, turkey, chicken or roast beef, cubed -- or pieces of cooked bacon or sausage
- 2 cups shredded cheese
- 1 tablespoon dried chives or more
- 1 to 1-1/2 cups raw whole milk
- 1 to 1-1/2 cups cream
- sea salt to taste
- pepper to taste
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 375 or 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
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Put 2 tablespoons of the butter in chunks at the bottom of a 9”x13” baking pan or a deep 9” square baking dish.
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Layer in bottom 1/3 of the potatoes.
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Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
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Continue with the layers: 1/2 the onions, 1/3 of the cheese, 1/2 of the ham (or other meat), and 1/2 the chives.
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Begin another set of layers, with 1/3 of the potatoes sprinkled with salt and pepper.
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Continue with the rest of the onions, the rest of the ham, another 1/3 of the cheese, and 1/2 the chives.
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Top with the rest of the potatoes.
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Mix the cream and milk together and pour over all.
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It should come up halfway the depth of the pan.
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Dot the top with the rest of the butter.
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Cover and bake for 1 to 1-1/2 hours, until potatoes are tender (but not mushy).
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Remove from oven, uncover, sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top.
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Return to oven to melt and brown the cheese.
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Remove from oven.
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Let stand for 5 to 15 minutes before serving.
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Enjoy!
P.S. Next Tuesday, we’re starting! Yep, I’m talking about the cultured dairy and basic cheese class! Learn to make your own healthy sour cream, buttermilk, cultured butter, and basic cheeses like cheddar and mozzarella. Are you in? I hope so! The gals at Cultures for Health and Homesteader Supply are busily filling kit orders — if you need one, order soon to get it in time. (And please know that you can start the class anytime that is right for you; whether next Tuesday or later.)
...without giving up the foods you love or spending all day in the kitchen!
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We love this dish at our house, one question though. We buy a hog locally and then have it butchered but the local butchers that I talk to are using nitrates to cure the meat and say that is the only way they can do it. What do small butcher shops that don’t cure with nitrates use instead?
Megan — I’m not sure. We have ham rarely, and because it is given to us. I know it has nitrates then. 🙁 When I buy other pork products I look for nitrate-free, and they’re usually uncured. I have always wondered if you can cure without using nitrates, too. Does anyone know? Please enlighten us! 🙂
Whole Foods carries a brand of ham products that are nitrate-free. At Easter I get a whole ham-which is the only time (maybe Christmas) that they have the whole ones. I think it is Wellshire Farms brand.
Wardee- I believe you omitted the amount of chives in the recipe- only saw in the directions to “use 1/2 the chives”. I am making this for supper tonight! Thanks so much!!
Oops! Writing from the library, I’m recalling the amount as being about 1 tablespoon. Just sprinkle them on each time however much you like. It is flexible! When I get home, I’ll look it up for real. 🙂 Thanks for pointing that out!
We will be having our pig butchered in a few weeks. We talked to our friend who is doing the butchering. He said there is a special process that he does that doesn’t require him to use the nitrates/ites. My dh didn’t push for info but I just wanted to let you know it is possible.
I will talk with him and let you know when I find out.
PS this is a yummy meal! 🙂
Kimberly — That would be great information and so encouraging to know it is possible. I have a book I was going to consult later tonight when I have time to sit down. 🙂
If anyone looked into all the bad qualities of pork, I doubt any health concious person would eat it. Pork always has the warning on it about trichinosis, that is not the illness you can get but the parasite that is in the meat. You have to thoroughly cook the meat to kill the parasite. Let alone that all health professionals tell you not to eat pork because it’s high fat content. Everyone who eats healthy should look into the digestive process of animals to see how what they eat and how they digest it is critically important in the quality of the flesh of the animal. It’s totally GROSS !!!!
I had a ton of extra potatoes lying around from last week, so I got an uncured ham steak from our farmer and cooked this up –
It was fantastic. I just found that we had a bit of milk/butter soup in the bottom, and I didn’t even get it to be 1/2 way up the pan when cooking. It was delicious nonetheless!
Thanks for the recipe!
To my knowledge, they use celery juice or something to do with celery in lieu of nitrates.
BTW – thank you for this recipe. My brother-in-law made something like this, but used a can of cream of chicken. Although, I cringed at the thought of a can of cream of chicken, the potato dish was amazing and I think I had thirds. Gotta love MSG and hydrolized protein.
Anyway, I just hadn’t converted the recipe to something that I would make at home and you did it for me. Thanks again! 🙂
OK, so I made it last night and it was delicious!!! I used a cast iron pot. Thanks again!!
do you think this could be made in the crockpot?