Why it works: Ham and potato match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and 127 recipes mention both. Both carry 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline, which smells popcorn, roasted. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Contains: milk, wheat, soy (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Assemble
Cut or shred the ham slice into bite-size pieces and place in a casserole dish.
Sprinkle with diced onion and flour.
Cover with sliced potatoes.
Pour milk or water over the top.
Dot with margarine or butter.
Cook and bake
Cover with saran and microwave on high for 5 minutes.
Immediately remove saran, cover with foil and bake at 325°F for one hour.
Remove foil and bake an additional 15 minutes.
This recipe comes from the Recipes Wiki on Fandom and is licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Our formatting and summaries are shared under the same licence.
Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Ham + potatotop 12% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together127 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
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Onion + potatotop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together9,019 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Milk + buttertop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together81,222 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Potato + milktop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together3,611 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
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Potato + buttertop 6% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together6,445 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Potatoes
- Form the bulk of the dish and soften into tender layers as they cook in the liquid.
- Ham
- Supplies savory, salty flavor and meaty substance to the bake.
- Flour
- Thickens the cooking liquid into a light sauce that coats the potatoes and ham.
- Milk or water
- Provides the liquid that steams the potatoes and forms the sauce with the flour.
- Butter or margarine
- Adds fat for richness and helps the top brown slightly as it bakes.
The step that matters
Covering with foil before the long bake. Foil traps steam so the potatoes cook through in the liquid before the top is exposed to dry heat. Removing it for the last 15 minutes lets the surface brown.
Flavor stand-ins for the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (ham, flour, potato, milk, butter):
- Asparagusabout as good a flavor fit
- Onionthe original
- Leekabout as good a flavor fit
- Tomatoabout as good a flavor fit
Fit is the average pairing score against ham, flour, potato, milk, butter. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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