High-fat foods for happy people.

Today is the first day of Nanowrimo and also my first day as an officially unemployed person. Before I start writing like a mad bastard though, I thought I'd share this recipe.

Fully-Loaded Scalloped Potatoes

Ingredients:

• About 1lb Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled, washed, and thinly sliced.
• 1/2 onion, thinly sliced
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 1 ham steak, cubed
• 2 cups broccoli (fresh or frozen, no big deal)
• 2 1/2 cups heavy cream, half and half, or milk (or some combination; I use half milk, half cream)
• 1-2 cups grated Parmesan (not the kind in the can, the refrigerated kind in the bag)
• salt
• pepper
• thyme

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cut all your vegetables and ham first. If you're using frozen broccoli, microwave it for about 1 minute to thaw it some, and chop it up a little if the pieces are large. Just a rough chop, nothing too neat.

In a deep frying pan or dutch oven, melt butter over medium heat. Add sliced onions and sprinkle with salt. Stir these around every minute or so until they begin to deeply caramelize. Throw in the cubed ham and cook for another minute or so to brown it up a bit.

Stir in milk/cream and heat until it's warm, but not boiling.

Spray a casserole dish with non-stick spray and begin to assemble the layers. Add one layer of potatoes, then broccoli. Ladle some of the liquid mixture over the layer, being sure to distribute the onions and ham evenly. Sprinkle each layer with Parmesan, salt, pepper, and thyme. This should yield about three layers depending on the size of your pan.

When you've used up all the ingredients (make sure you end with cheese on top!) bake for 45-55 minutes.

Tim and I gorged ourselves on this during the storm. It's the perfect meal for a rainy day and it's ridiculously indulgent.

PS. Technically this is not scalloped potatoes but actually a gratin, because of the cheese, but I do what I want.