It’s the perfect comfort meal on a chilly day! ***Disclaimer – 99% of the dishes represented by the photographs are shot with a Pro SLR camera and owned by me. The appearance of the dishes are an accurate result of my recipes, and are usually taken immediately after the dish is completed. Please feel free to use my photos as a guide in achieving perfect results when you make the dishes, as well as share any changes you might have made to the recipe to personalize it, as I might be interested in giving it a try!

Ingredients

4 Tbsp butter
4 Tbsp flour
3 c milk
salt and pepper
1 Tbsp butter (for sauteed onions)
3 medium onions (thinly sliced)
8 medium peeled and thinly sliced russett potatoes
24 oz sliced ham (2 ham steaks cubed)
4 c freshly grated mild cheddar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a deep 9×13 baking dish. In a saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons butter over medium high heat. Stir in flour and cook for 1 minute. Remove saucepan from heat and whisk in milk. Return pan to heat and bring to a simmer while stirring. When sauce has thickened remove from heat, season with salt and pepper and set aside. In a skillet, cook onions in melted butter until golden brown. Season with salt and pepper. Spread 1/3 of the white sauce in bottom of baking dish and top with half of the potatoes. Spread out half of the onions, ham, cheese And another third of the sauce. Season with salt and pepper. Continue layering ingredients, ending with the remaining cheese on top. Bake for 45 minutes or until golden and bubbly. Remove from oven and let stand 10-15 minutes. Sauce will thicken while standing.
2. Just a note: I prefer to freshly grate all of my cheeses for hot dishes. Mostly because the already shredded cheeses usually have an added wax-like film added to them, therefore disrupting proper melting. Just a tip!