Crock Pot: Cheesy taters and ham
This week, I chose a recipe from Pillbury’s “Fast Slow Cooker” cookbook. This would be a useful book for beginner cooks or those who barely have time to throw together a Crock Pot meal, because they are all really easy recipes that take about 15 minutes to prepare.
On the downside, as you can imagine, the recipes are pretty simple and most could probably benefit from some doctoring. But the Cheesy Potatoes with Ham I made yesterday really only needed a little bit of extra love. I thought it was quite good and very comforting.
Here’s the original recipe:
6 cups peeled potatoes cut into 1-inch cubes
1 1/2 cups cubed cooked ham
1 can (15 oz.) whole kernel sweet corn, drained
1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper
2 tsp. minced dried onion
1 can (10 oz.) condensed cheddar cheese soup
1/2 cup milk
2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1. Mix potatoes, corn, ham, bell pepper and onion in Crock Pot.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the soup, milk and flour. Pour all over the potato mixture in the Crock Pot and stir gently to mix.
3. Cover and cook on low 7 to 9 hours or until potatoes are tender.
My variations:
1. Forget the dried onions and use 1/2 cup chopped fresh onion.
2. If you have a fast-cooking slow cooker or a big oval one with more surface area, you should probably cut the cooking time to 6 or 6 1/2 hours. I cooked mine for 6 and the potatoes were perfect.
3. At the end, I found the “sauce” to be a bit watery from all of the vegetables, so I stirred in some cubed Velveeta cheese and let it cook with the lid lifted to reduce a little. That thickened it up pretty nicely. You could also stir in about 1/2 cup shredded cheese.
4. Last but certainly not least, this needs to be seasoned with some pepper. But I didn’t use much salt because of the salty soup.
Tips:
We used a package of ham steaks, which were a decent price (2 big steaks for about $5).
If you wanted to make potato soup with ham, this would be an interesting way to do it. You could probably cut back on the amount of potatoes by a cup or two, add a can or two of chicken broth and then, when you get home, remove some of the potatoes and puree them and add them back in to thicken it. What do you all think?
February 5, 2010 - 10:24 AM
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It was very tasty, but mostly because of the extra cheese you added at the end.
Have you found this blog? http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/
I always end up seasoning again before serving no matter what recipe I make in the slow cooker. I like making my own ‘soup’ so I can skip some of the things I can’t pronounce, but there’s not always time for that.
Sounds good. I love cheesy taters and ham.
A hash brown casserole is one of my favorite comfort foods. It usually doesn’t have ham in it, but the cheesy creamy potatoes just make me feel so good.
Corned beef and cabbage in my crock pot as we speak…dinner tonight plus looking forward to Reuben calzones (made with pizza dough from a can) later in the weekend!!!
Snowed in and looking for something for the crock pot to cook that sounds yummy-this is it! It just so happens I have all the ingredients for this, including half a spiral sliced ham, except the soup. Darn!
I made cabbage soup instead.
Betsy: Reuben calzones sound GREAT!! Do you put Swiss cheese in them? My sister’s sister-in-law makes these sauerkraut balls around Christmas time that have corned beef and swiss cheese in them, then are breaded and fried. They look like hushpuppies but the insides are soooo much better.
Sandy: Cabbage soup sounds good, too
Betsy, will you share your recipe for the calzones, please! I love reubens. The sauerkraut balls sound great too. I’m hungry now.
That looks good, but I think I’d substitute cubed Velveeta for the can of cheddar soup. That would probably also thicken it up better. There’s some other variations I’d consider, so I’ll have to try that and report back…
Who was it that said – ‘Anything with melted cheese sounds good to me.’…?
That sounds pretty good. I love cheese, but could mozerella or provolone be substituted?
Lindsey, could you share the recipe for the reuben balls? I think I’ll go make some corned beef gravy right now!
I made meatloaf in the crock pot yesterday, and I think it was the best mix I’ve ever done. Completely by accident, when I was seasoning the meat mix, a huge lump of my smoked paprika fell out into the bowl so I just blended it in with the rest. Result – GREAT tasting meatloaf!
My kids grew up watching Food Network and are now extremely picky about the level of flavor in their food – the greatest critiq
Sean: I think those cheeses would definitely work.
Connie: I’ll have to see if I can get it. If I can, I will certainly share.
Kristen: Can you share your meatloaf recipe?
I keep hearing about people making meatloaf in their slow cooker. I need to try that. I’d love the recipe, too.
I make them slightly different each time…can’t help tweeking! I mostly use canned pizza dough (although I have also used the refrigerator bread dough that we have talked about on this blog before)which usually comes in two pieces so I usually make two individual ones…but have also made one big one too. Put the dough on a greased cookie sheet (or use parchment paper) and fill one side with a layer of swiss cheese, chopped up leftover corned beef, then either leftover cooked cabbage(I make extra if it fits in the crock pot when I am cooking the corned beef the first time) or sauerkraut, slather on some thousand island dressing, then another layer of swiss cheese. Fold over the other side of the dough and seal the edges…make some cuts in the top or it gets too soggy…cook at 400 for 15 minutes or so…it’s done when it is nicely browned. My husband likes extra thousand island on the side.
Ok this is how I made my meatloaf.
I mixed about a pound of ground beef with a pound of ground pork. I’ve never used them both before and I was surprised at what a difference it made in the taste and texture of the meat.
In my little Black and Decker grinder, I ground up a bunch of flat leaf parsley, 4 shallots, and about 5 cloves of garlic. Once they were pretty finely ground, I added about 1.5 tablespoons of mustard powder, the same of dried basil, and (completely by accident) probably 2.5 of smoked paprika (too much fell out into the blender and I couldn’t get it out). I bought smoked paprika for some recipe once and am always trying to find ways to use it.
I blended again, then added the mix to my meat. Then, 1 egg, 1/4 c. milk, 1/4 seasoned breadcrumbs. I mixed all of this thoroughly using my hands, because I can never do it with a spoon.
I took a couple of pretty long pieces of foil, and folded them into 2 strips maybe 1 1/2 inches across. I laid them on the plate and, after forming my meat mixture into a loaf-life shape, put the meat on top of the foil strips.
You place the meatloaf in the crockpot so that the strips can come up on either side. Once you put the top on the crockpot, you pull them both from both sides and the meatloaf ends up suspended in the crockpot. It sort of hangs there and cooks, and anything fatty or nasty drips to the bottom. It sounds a lot trickier than it is – the weight of the crockpot lid holds them in place
Thanks, Kristen! I’ve also seen recipes that call for placing the meatloaf in the Crock Pot without the tin foil, but I can see how that might be swimming in grease. The smoked paprika sounds like a good addition. If you are looking for other uses, you should try one of my all-time favorites: http://www.roanoke.com/columnists/nair/recipes/wb/145415
Also, a friend put some smoked paprika in her chili this weekend and it was delicious.
Lindsey, Just wanted to let you know yesterday I made the crock pot gumbo recipe you had in your Super Bowl article last Wed. I didn’t follow it exactly, so here’s what I changed: I subbed bite-size pieces of sauteed boneless thighs for the chicken meat as we prefer dark meat around here, and I also added 1 lb. of sliced italian sausage (browned in the skillet w/the kielbasa). The sausage added a little extra kick. I subbed cut-up fresh asparagus for the okra (never could stand okra…), and I used 1/2 a green & 1/2 a red bell pepper b/c I had them and needed to use them up. I used 1/2 tsp. ground hot peppers (from last summer’s garden, dehydrated and ground). Served it over brown rice. The roux is definitely the trickiest part, but patience is a virtue, esp. in the kitchen
My husband loves his gumbo, and he said this was the best he’s ever had. Thanks again for sharing! We’re looking forward to the leftovers tonight!
Meatloaf in the crock pot is great! It is my husband’s favorite. Just round it on top and push it away from the sides of the pot a little, so the grease will have a place to pool. When it does, just pour it off (being careful no to dump your meatloaf into the sink!). I usually do this when it is time to put the sauce on top. You can also just pour off the grease the same way when you bake it in the oven.
Lindsey,
I made the crock pot gumbo as well, and it was delicious. I stuck to the recipe, although my roux didn’t take near as long as the recipe called for, or maybe I just didn’t it correctly. I got the ‘pecan color’ very quickly (7 vs 15 min) so I didn’t cook it any further; I was afraid it would burn. Thanks!
Kristen, the tin foil trick is ingenious! I’ll have to try that. Whenever I make meatloaf in the oven, I put the ‘heels’ from a loaf of bread in the bottom of the pan to absorb all the grease. Your idea for the slow cooker sounds really smart!
I never thought about that ab. That’s a great idea!
How long do you cook a two pound meatloaf in the crock pot???
Becky, based on some other Crock Pot meatloaf recipes I’ve seen, I’m going to say 6 to 8 hours on low, depending on how hot your appliance usually cooks. Kristen, is that about how long yours took?
I’m really happy to hear from those of you who tried and liked the gumbo recipe.
Reuben Calzone. Wasn’t he a boxer in the 80′s?
Dear, I believe you are thinking of Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, the subject of my favorite Bob Dylan song. But maybe not, because that was the 60s.
My meatloaf was on low for about 6 hours and it was perfect. I think much longer and it would begin to dry out. I started with 2 pounds of meat – if you have more, it might take a little longer to cook.