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Ham and Potato Scallop

A baked dish of sliced ham and potatoes simmered in milk.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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Why it works: Potato and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,611 recipes. Both carry (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal, which smells cucumber, melon. The science ↓

Ham and Potato Scallop

Oven, in the book's wordsA hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a hot oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the ham

  1. Cut the ham about ½ inch thick.

  2. If the ham is salty, soak it in warm water for 30 minutes, then drain.

  3. Brown the ham on both sides in a frying pan.

Bake

  1. Place the ham in a baking dish, add the sliced potatoes, and pour the milk over the top.

  2. Cover and bake in a slow oven at 300°F (150°C) for 1 hour.

  3. Uncover and bake for an additional 30 minutes before serving.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Potato + milktop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,611 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).

  2. Ham + milktop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,089 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).

  3. Ham + potatotop 24% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together127 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Ham
Provides the savory meaty flavor, and browning it first adds deeper color and taste.
Potatoes
Their starch softens and thickens as they bake, giving the casserole body and texture.
Milk
Adds moisture and creaminess, and its milk sugars help the top brown during the final uncovered baking.

The step that matters

Soaking the salty ham. Cured ham can be very salty, and soaking it in warm water draws some salt out of the meat. Skipping this can make the whole casserole taste overly salted.

“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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