Baked Potatoes with Cheese Sauce and Ham Steak

I love making baked potatoes. They are fast (if you cook in the microwave, even faster), easy, and they can be topped with virtually anything! Last night, I made baked potatoes with a homemade cheese sauce and ham steak for dinner, along with a green salad with chocolate cherry tomatoes. Yum! While I've made numerous cheese sauces before (most notably for my mom's macaroni and cheese), I followed this recipe from my Cuisine at Home magazine, which called for yellow mustard, rather than dry mustard, like I usually use. Very tasty!

Baked Potatoes
Ingredients:
4-6 Russet Potatoes
1 tbs olive oil
1 tbs kosher salt

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Wash, scrub and dry potatoes. Pierce them several times over with a fork.

2. Put the olive oil and potatoes in a bowl. Add the salt and toss to coat.

3. Bake in the oven (on the rack) for 1 hour. Put a piece of aluminum foil underneath the rack to catch any oil drips.

4. Remove and slice open.

Ham Steak and Cheese Sauce
Ingredients:
1 ham steak (bone in)
3 tbs butter
2 tbs flour
1 tsp yellow mustard
1.5 cups milk (I used whole milk for this, but you could use skim)
4 oz. shredded cheddar cheese
Salt and pepper

1. Put a large pan over medium high heat. Add 1 tbs of butter. Sear the ham steak on both sides. Remove to a plate. When cool, cut into chunks.

2. Add the other two tbs of butter. When melted, add the flour and whisk. Cook for 1 minute.

3. Add the yellow mustard and milk, whisking the entire time. The sauce will begin to thicken. You will have bits of brown from the sear on the ham steak. THIS IS GOOD! It adds tremendous flavor!!!

4. Cook for a couple of minutes and then add the cheese. Whisk until combined. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve over the potatoes with the ham.