Heritage Recipe: Evie Funke's Potatoes au Gratin With Ham

Evie Funke and her husband were elders in the first church I attended. It was the church that I was saved into way back in 1981. It was a little country church filled with salt-of-the-earth Christians. I have fond memories of those days, and my ideas of how church folk ought to relate to one another still stems from that time many many years ago.

During a difficult time of my college life, I lived with Evie and her husband for a few months. This was one of my favorite dishes she made.

Potatoes au Gratin

Ingredients:

thinly sliced white potatoes to fill 9 x 13 pan
ham chunks as desired

medium white sauce: 

• 2 T butter
• 4 c milk
• 1/2 c flour
• 1/2 lb Velveeta cubed
• 1/2 c margarine
• 2 t salt

Spray 13 X 9 pan with pan spray.  Fill pan with potatoes (and ham if desired). Make white sauce with cheese.

Melt butter of medium-low heat. Whisk in flour and salt. Cook over medium heat until smooth and bubbly. Stir constantly. Remove from heat, stir milk in gradually. Return to heat and bring to a boil stirring constantly with a whisk. Boil and stir one minute. Reduce heat to low, and add cheese. Stir until melted.

Pour over potatoes in pan. Cover loosely with foil.

Bake at 350° 1 1/2 hours - hours until bubbly, lightly browned, and potatoes are fork tender.