A while back I bought some butter that I found I REALLY didn't like and wound up throwing out. I can't recall exactly how it was represented (cultured? fermented? something) but I think I'd recognize it were I to pick it up again.
Personally, I'm quite happy with normal butter. I always buy unsalted, and usually leave the current stick out on the counter top. I know that some people here think that butter is highly fragile and needs to be frozen if it's not used within the first twenty minutes or so of arriving home, but honestly, that's simply not the case. I have NEVER had a problem with butter. See the post below.
Scalloped ham and potatoes
Sliced and cut up ham, probably about two cups. Who knows? I don't measure many things.
Five or six medium potatoes, peeled and sliced thin.
Onion. Depending on the size. I think about a half cup chopped onion.
The sauce:
3 Tablespoons butter.
A bit less than 3 Tablespoons flour.
Melt the butter, then stir in the onion. Let it brown for a couple of minutes. Then stir in the flour. If the flour and butter are in exactly equal amounts, which is what most cookbooks tell you, it won't work out. Trust me. Cook books get a lot of things wrong. And if you live at high altitude, PM me because the conventional wisdom about high altitude cooking is totally wrong. So, anyway, you need about 2/3 flour to the same amount of butter. Trust me.
Now add ground pepper (probably about a teaspoon), celery seed (NOT celery salt) likewise about a teaspoon, and about a half teaspoon of thyme. Also marjoram and tarragon. Use your own judgment here. I don't measure these things, so the amounts are my best guess.
Meanwhile, heat 3 cups of half and half (yes, half and half. NOT skim milk -- and if you're cooking with that there's probably a circle of hell just for you -- and not 2% and not whole milk. Half and half. What’s leftover goes nicely in your coffee.) in the microwave at 50% power for about three minutes. You definitely want to take the chill off, and maybe even get the half and half almost hot. Give the roux (the butter, flour, onion, and seasonings) about three minutes to do their thing, stirring all the while with a balloon whisk. Now stir in the warm half and half. Let it continue to do its thing for a few minutes at a medium heat. You want it to thicken up somewhat.
Smear butter on the bottom of a pyrex baking dish. I think mine is a 3 quart one, but I just looked at it and couldn't find that information, but it is the largest of a three dish set I acquired more than 35 years ago. Use your own judgment here. But do not even remotely consider using a metal baking dish.
Once the butter/onion/half and half mix has thickened up, which will take about five minutes, more or less, put a bit of your sauce on the very bottom of your baking dish, which you have already smeared with butter. If you are using the spray crap, shame on you. Then do a layer of potato slices, topped with the ham. Now pour some of the sauce to cover the ham and potatoes. Another layer of potatoes, another layer of ham, and more sauce. Top with the rest of your potato slices, and the rest of your sauce. Dab a tablespoon or so of butter on the very top, in three or five different places. You want to create the opportunity for the butter to melt and burn to create something interesting at the very top. You could, of course, leave it out entirely and may not notice the difference, but the cooking gods will.
Bake in the preheated oven, 350 degrees, covered (I'm hoping your baking dish has its own cover, otherwise I'm sure aluminum foil will suffice) for 30 minutes. Uncover, bake for another hour. Oh, and be sure to place a cookie sheet under the baking dish because if you've done it right, there will be overflow of the sauce.
If you live at high altitude, as I do, make the baking times 35 minutes covered, 70 minutes uncovered.
Let stand five minutes.
This is one of the few things I make that isn't better the next day. This is absolutely at its best fresh out of the oven, so it's probably best made when you have enough people to eat it all up right away.
Don't despair, because it really does reheat in the microwave (dear Lord, what was life like before them?) adequately.
Oh, and since I don't add salt earlier, you will probably want to salt your portion at this point. I also add more ground pepper, but that’s just me.
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