Ham–Potato Bake

This is a great way to use leftover ham from Easter or Christmas dinner. It's basically scalloped potatoes with chunks of ham, so it's easy to throw together and, if your family is anything like mine, you can't go wrong with with potatoes, ham, and cheese!

Ingredients

1/2 c. chopped onion

4 Tbsp. butter

4 Tbsp. flour

2-1/2 c. milk

1-1/2 c. cheese

salt and pepper to taste

2 c. ham, cut into bite-sized pieces

6 medium potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced

For sauce, cook onion in butter until tender.

Stir in flour, salt, and pepper.

Add milk all at once.

Add the cheese of your choice (I prefer cheddar, but as you can see on the day I made this, I used cheddar and Monterey Jack). The recipe calls for a cup and a half. Ahem. I use a lot more than that. Sometimes I chunk it; sometimes I shred.

Cook and stir until cheese is melted and

sauce is thickened and bubbly.

While sauce is cooking, you can peel and slice the potatoes.

Arrange half the sliced potatoes in a casserole dish.

Sprinkle half of the ham over the potatoes.

Cover with half the sauce. Repeat layers.

Bake, covered, in a 350° oven for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake 30 minutes more (or until potatoes are tender). Let stand 5 minutes. Serves 6.

Salmon Patties with Creamed Peas

I give full credit for my love of seafood to my Grandma Christopher, because my earliest introduction to fish came by eating her tasty salmon patties smothered in yummy creamed peas. I never thought to get a copy of her recipe, so over the years I've had to combine and tweak recipes from various cookbooks to come up with this version. My kids insist that they hate fish, but they happily eat these . . .

SALMON PATTIES

4 Tbsp. butter

2 celery stalks, finely chopped

1/2 c. onion, finely chopped

2 14.75-oz. can salmon (about 3-1/2 c. cooked salmon, if you're using fresh/frozen)

2/3 c. (or 2 slices) fine dry bread crumbs

1/2 c. shredded mozarella

2 Tbsp. parsley*

2 tsp. lemon juice

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. dry mustard

2 eggs, lightly beaten

4 c. crushed saltine crackers

*parsley is optional. Sometimes I use it and sometimes I don't. To me, dried parsley doesn't add to the taste and often detracts with its texture. Fresh parsley works better, but you need to chop it up super fine.

CREAMED PEAS

3 c. frozen peas

1/4 c. onion, chopped

2 Tbsp. butter

2 Tbsp. flour

1 tsp. salt

pepper, to taste

2 c. milk (or half-and-half)

Cook onion and celery in butter until tender but not brown. Remove from heat.

Drain salmon, reserving liquid. REPEAT . . . DO NOT THROW AWAY THE LIQUID! Discard bones and skin from salmon; flake meat into a large bowl.

Add celery/onion mixture, bread crumbs, mozarella, parsley, lemon juice, salt, mustard, and eggs. Mix together well.

Add reserved liquid as necessary to moisten mixture (you want it to stick together and form a patty, but not be too mushy). This is a very non-scientific process and will vary each time; you decide by feel when you've got the texture that you want.

I prepare my cracker crumbs by sticking them in a baggie and running a rolling pin over them to crush them. Then I pour the crumbs into a pie plate.

Shape salmon mixture into about 12 patties and coat with cracker crumbs. Because my hands are a mess during this step, I find it's easiest to coat all the patties and place them onto waxed paper—I don't worry about cooking them until I've got them all formed and ready to go.

Many recipes call for frying patties in oil, which is a disaster—they'll just fall apart. A nonstick fry pan or griddle without any oil works best. Cook the patties over medium heat (about 5 minutes per side or until they look nice and golden brown). While the patties are cooking, make the creamed peas.

In a medium saucepan cook onion in butter until tender but not brown. Stir in flour, salt, and pepper. Whisk in milk, one cup at a time. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir 1 minute more. Stir in peas; heat through. Season to taste.

Spoon creamed peas over patties and serve.

Pistachio Salad

This is a traditional part of our family's Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. Super easy to make (only four ingredients and no cooking involved), and everyone loves it. Try to make it the day before, so it's nice and cold.

1 box pistachio instant pudding

20 oz. crushed pineapple (drained)

1 c. mini marshmallows

8 oz. Cool Whip

Could a recipe be any easier?

Four ingredients, people!

Sprinkle pudding mix over pineapple.

Make sure you use crushed pineapple—no chunks or slices!

(And don't forget to drain the pineapple, or it will be a soupy mess.)

Mix together well.

Stir in marshmallows.

Fold in Cool Whip.

Refrigerate.

Don't be like me and just plop it on the table in the mixing bowl. Transfer it to a pretty dish of some sort. Please.

Tamale Pie

If you like Mexican food, this is the dish for you. I usually double the recipe and freeze the second pan.

1 lb. ground beef

1 onion, chopped fine

1/2 envelope taco seasoning

1 (14-1/2 oz) can diced tomatoes in juice

1 (15 oz) can beans, black or kidney

1 c. fresh or frozen corn

1/2 c. cheese, cheddar or Monterey jack

4 c. water

3/4 tsp. salt

1-1/2 c. coarse cornmeal

Brown hamburger, onion, and taco seasoning. Drain.

Return beef mixture to skillet. Add tomatoes with their juice along with the beans and corn. Simmer until most of the liquid has evaporated, about 3 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat.

For the crust, bring the water to a boil in a heavy-bottomed, large saucepan over high heat. Add the salt and then slowly pour in the cornmeal while whisking vigorously to prevent lumps from forming. Reduce the heat to medium-high and cook, whisking constantly, until the cornmeal begins to soften and the mixture thickens, about 3 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat.

Spread 2/3 of the cornmeal mixture (about 2-1/2 cups) over the bottom and up the sides of a baking dish. Place lid on top of the pan with the remaining cornmeal mixture to prevent it from drying out.

Spoon the beef mixture evenly into the dish and sprinkle with the cheese.

Spread the remaining cornmeal mixture evenly on top of the cheese, spreading it out to the edges of the pie plate to seal in the filling. Bake until the crust has set and the pie is heated through, 25–30 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes before serving. * Adapted from American Classics *

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Chicken Pot Pie

This is an adaptation from a recipe in one of my favorite cookbooks, American Classics. I use refrigerated pie crust and rotisserie chicken that I buy from the grocery store (time is money, and for only $5 to $8 I can get a whole chicken already roasted). I never use an entire chicken for just one pot pie; I either make two pot pies or I use the extra chicken for a different recipe on another day. The mushrooms are optional, as I know many families don't like them; I, however, love them so my kids either pick them out or ingest them by accident.

1 pie crust, refrigerated

1 roasted or rotisserie chicken

2 c. canned low-sodium chicken broth

1-1/2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 onion, chopped fine

3 med. carrots, peeled and cut 1/4" thick

2 small stalks celery, cut 1/4" thick

1 c. fresh mushrooms, sliced

salt and ground black pepper

4 Tbsp. unsalted butter

1/2 c. flour

1-1/2 c. milk (I've also used low-fat half-and-half, which is yummy)

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1/4 c. frozen green peas, thawed

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Heat olive oil in pan, then sautè onion, carrots, celery, and mushrooms until just tender (about 5 minutes). Season to taste with salt and pepper. While veggies are sautèing, shred the chicken into bite-sized pieces. Transfer the cooked vegetables to a bowl with the chicken; set aside.

Melt the butter over medium heat in the empty pan. When the foaming subsides, add the flour; cook about 1 minute. Whisk in the chicken broth, milk, and thyme. Bring to a simmer, then continue to simmer until the sauce fully thickens, about 1 minute. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Pour the sauce over the chicken mixture; stir to combine. Stir in the peas. Adjust the seasonings. (Can be covered and refrigerated overnight; reheat before topping with the pastry.) Pour the mixture into a pie plate and top with pie crust.

Bake until the pastry is golden brown and filling is bubbly, about 30 minutes.

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Rhubarb Crisp

Nothing tastes better on a rainy evening than warm rhubarb crisp with vanilla ice cream. Since it's one of my family's favorite desserts, I thought I'd show you how easy it is to make . . .

I use about 8 stalks of rhubarb, which I rinse thoroughly. In fact, I clean it within an inch of its life. (Back at my old house, which sat near the street, I once looked out the window just as a woman was letting her dog pee on my rhubarb. I couldn't believe my eyes! Gross!)

Next I chop up the rhubarb into bite-size chunks:

In a small bowl, I toss together 1/2 cup of sugar, 2 tablespoons of flour, and 1/4 teaspoon mace:

Then I sprinkle it over the rhubarb and mix it all together:

I lightly beat an egg with a fork, pour it over the rhubarb filling, and use it to bind everything together:

I pour it all into a pie plate—almost done, just need to put together the topping.

For the "crisp," I combine 1 cup graham cracker crumbs, 1/2 cup flour, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, and 1/2 cup melted butter:

Using my fingers I sprinkle the topping over the rhubarb and press gently to make the crisp:

Finally, I stick it in a 375-degree oven and bake it for 30 minutes. I let it cool (despite my husband and kids screaming from the family room, "Is it ready yet?" every 5 seconds) before spooning a couple scoops of vanilla ice cream on top and serving. Yummy!

Taco Lasagna

This tasty Mexican twist to lasagna uses tortillas instead of pasta and cheddar instead of mozarella.

1-1/2 lbs. ground beef

1/2 c. green pepper, chopped

1/2 c. onion, chopped

2/3 c. water

1 envelope taco seasoning

1 15-oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 14-1/2 oz. can Mexican diced tomatoes, undrained

6 flour tortillas

1 16-oz. can refried beans

3 c. shredded cheese, Mexican blend

Start browning the beef (I'm using moose hamburger).

Chop up the green pepper and onion, and cook them along with the browning beef.

After draining the meat, return skillet to stove and add the taco seasoning and water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and stir in the tomatoes and beans. (I didn't have black beans on hand, so I used kidney beans instead.)

Mix everything together, then simmer uncovered for 10 minutes.

Grease a 13x9x2 baking dish and place the first layer: tortillas.

Spread 1/3 of the refried beans over tortillas.

Spoon 1/3 of the meat mixture over refried beans.

It's starting to look good!

Next layer: cheese.

Don't be stingy with that cheese!

Repeat layers twice more. I finish it off with 6 slices of cheddar, arranged on top (think squares of mozarella on the top of lasagna). Cover the dish with aluminum foil and stick it in a 350 oven for 25 minutes.

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