The Side Dish That Will Take Center Stage!

Last Wednesday, I bought a boneless spiral slice ham at Sam's Club thinking with all the cooking I was going to be doing for the next couple of night at Rolling Pin, it would be great to have some leftovers in the fridge. I have never tried a boneless spiral sliced ham before and really had my doubts about it, but I am usually willing to try anything, especially if it sounds like it is going to be a time saver. There was no doubt what I was going to prepare as the side, what goes better with ham, scalloped potatoes, of course! I had planned to make my Super Easy Gruyere and Creme Fraîche Scalloped Potatoes, but had forgotten to make Creme Fraîche the day before, bummer. What's a girl to do, I had my heart set on Gruyere potatoes and I did not have much time (if you remember, Thursday was my tart marathon day!) Then I remembered a recipe I had saved weeks ago, not as easy as my original choice, but did not sound too time consuming and I liked the idea of parboiling the potatoes, so the baking time is not as long, especially since my oven had all ready been on for 5 hours. And the sauce sounded so yummy and easy and we all know, I love a good sauce!

I used my mandoline and sliced the peeled potatoes right in my pot filled with water. How easy was that! Just a little side note on using a mandoline slicer, they are a wonderful, handy gadget to use, but beware, they are EXTREMELY sharp and will slice through your fingers without hesitation! Use the guard, even an experienced mandoline user can get on a roll cutting and slice the tip of their finger off, I speak from experience!

As the potatoes were cooking, I shredded the cheese and mixed up the sauce. I drained the potatoes, layered them with the cheese in a buttered pie plate and poured the sauce over. In the oven they went, boy that was easy. Dinner that night was wonderful, and center stage was my new favorite potato recipe! Matter of fact, when I got up Friday morning, all I could think about were the leftover potatoes, I had them for breakfast! Then all day when I was at Rolling Pin, prepping for Friday and Saturday night, all I could talk about were the potatoes, they were that wonderful. Oh yeah, the ham was fine, good taste, but very hard to get the slices apart. I think for the holidays I will stick with the traditional spiral slice ham, bone in.

• Gruyère Scalloped Potatoes
• 4 large potato -- peeled and sliced
• 2 cups Gruyere cheese -- shredded
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 3/4 cup chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons butter -- melted
• 1/2 teaspoon marjoram
• 1/2 teaspoon dill
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• fresh ground pepper -- to taste
• Place potatoes in a large pot with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil and cook for

5 to 7 minutes or until tender outside, but slightly firm inside. Drain well and set aside. Preheat oven to 375°F and butter an 8- or 9-inch glass baking dish. Place half of the potatoes in the dish and sprinkle with half of the cheese. Repeat layers. Whisk together remaining ingredients and pour over potatoes. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork. (Tent loosely with foil if potatoes brown too quickly.)