Incredible Scalloped Potatoes

I'm not a big Scalloped Potatoes fan, or at least I wasn't.   But lately, I've craved some old-timey dishes that my mom and grandma used to make.   Scalloped Potatoes is one of those kind of dishes.

A few years before my mom passed away, while she was more or less confined to her chair, she asked me what I wanted for Christmas.  Since we were all going to try to make as many gifts for each other instead of buying them, I asked if she'd write her favorite recipes down for me.   It was and is a wonderful gift that I use all of the time, this box of my mom's treasured recipes, but unfortunately it doesn't contain a recipe for Scalloped Potatoes.   So....I went searching.

And as often is the case, I'll find several recipes that aren't quite what I have in mind.  I'll take the parts that I like from each and create my own hybrid recipe.   Usually, it turns out.  Sometimes it doesn't.  And sometimes, it's an enormous hit, as in the case of the recipe I post below.   Seriously, this is like pizza, it's so good.   There aren't any pictures, because the dish didn't last long enough to take any!  And it's the perfect dish to use up leftover ham with.

The key to this one is slicing the potatoes and onions thin.   The thicker they are, the more chance that they won't be 'done' in the allotted bake time.

You'll need:

9 x 9 Pyrex dish

4 T Butter
2 T Flour
1.5 C Milk
2 medium Onions sliced thin
4 reasonably sized Potatoes, peeled and sliced thin
12 oz. Ham, sliced, then diced
Grated Cheddar (or experiment! I bet Swiss would be incredible)

Preheat oven to 350.   Grease the 9 x 9 Pyrex dish.

Slice onions and potatoes, slice and dice ham, grate cheese (if you haven't already).

In a saucepan, melt 2 T of Butter, whisk in 2 T of Flour til a roux is formed.   Remove from heat, add milk, whisk in til the roux is completely mixed in with the milk.  Return to medium heat and stir often til it thickens.   Season with salt and pepper, remove from heat and set aside.

In a fry pan, add 2 T Butter and the Sliced Onions.  Cover on medium heat, stir occasionally, cook til soft and golden, starting to carmelize.   Remove from heat.

In the Pyrex 9 x 9, assemble two layers thusly.   First, half the white sauce, then half of the potato slices, then on top of that, ham, onions, grated cheese.  Repeat for the second layer.

Bake 350 for about 50 minutes.

Dad's Oyster Stew

Every Christmas Eve for as long as I've been on this planet and even before that, my father has made Oyster Stew on Christmas Eve.   It's a tradition that his parents - my grandparents - had and may go back even further than that, likely on my grandmother's side.  My grandmother made Oyster Stew throughout the Winter when my dad was a boy, it was the perfect thing to warm up wet, cold children after a day at the sledding hill.

Dad is very particular about this recipe.  He insists that it not be altered in any way and nothing else be added, no matter what anyone might suggest and I agree with him.  It is, in a word, perfection.  And absolutely delicious.

1 pint fresh raw oysters
1 stick of butter - real butter, no substitutes.
1 quart WHOLE Milk, not skim or any percent.
1 cup Half and Half
1 cup Oyster Crackers, crushed to powder
1 T salt
1 t pepper




Start by cutting the stick of butter in half.  Put one of the halves in a small fry pan and set to medium-low.   Strain the juice from the oysters into your stock pot.   Once strained, put the oysters in the fry pan with the butter and simmer til the oysters are curly.

In the stock pot, add to the oyster juice the other half of stick of butter and the quart of milk.  Heat on low, bringing up to heat slowly.  NEVER LET THE STEW BOIL...EVER.   Once it's warm to hot, add the oysters/butter and stir slowly.   Add the salt and pepper.  Crush the Oyster Crackers by putting in a ziplock bag and crushing with a rolling pin til finely crushed, slowly stir into the stew.   Add the half and half.   Add salt and pepper to taste.  Simmer on lowest heat setting for 15-20 minutes, then refrigerate.   Serve the next day...it truly needs to sit for a day.   Again, never let it boil when bringing it up to heat.   Serve with oyster crackers.