Your Mom Made WHAT for Dinner?

Today's meal is good "5 ingredient fix" and great for leftovers.  I can take absolutely no credit for this dinner, whatsoever.  This one comes straight from my mother in law. 

Back in the 90's when dating my husband, then boyfriend obviously, we came home to his house one night to his mom cooking this in the kitchen.  Now, my own mom is a great cook and experiments a good amount and I grew up with a decent variety of food.  But when you're introduced to another family, you're introduced to a whole new culinary experience too.  I was also brought up on the philosophy that you eat what is placed in front of you, all of it.  And if you are a guest in the house, you choke it down and compliment it like its the best thing you ever tasted.  Thankfully, I do have a pretty varietal palette and have yet to really come across something I can't choke down.  Example:  I had asparagus the first time ever with my husband's family.  Smothered them in ketchup of course, but ate them nonetheless.  Today, they are a regular vegetable in our house, and I have my mother in law to thank for that.  But this isn't about asparagus.  This particular meal is simply referred to as "that ham, egg and pea thing."

The "ham, egg and pea thing" was boiling away that fateful night when we came home and I wondered just what I was in for.  Chopped up pieces of what appeared to be left over ham, peas (oh God), hard-boiled eggs (hrm) and... some kind of white sauce.... poured over spiral noodles.  Everyone seemed pretty excited they were having this meal, particularly my husband, while my mother in law just matter of factly placed the mixture on the table and we all dug in. 

I proceeded with caution.  Noodles, check.  And this mixure of ham, egg, peas (?!) and sauce over it.  How, on earth, was this going to come together in my mouth and taste good?  If you've ever watched me eat; I'm known to eat the contents of my plate from smallest to largest, one item at a time, and I twist my plate towards what I'm currently consuming.  Yeah, not really an obsessive compulsive, just a quirk.  My sister gets a kick out of it.  Anyhow... I like my foods separate.  Prime example, Thanksgiving dinner.  Each food group gets a corner of the plate all to its own.  And certain foods are actually required to be next to one another. Stuffing must be placed next to potatoes, which must be placed next to turkey, and so on.  As a child I watched my great-grandfather put it all on the plate and then scoop it all into a pile and mix it up.  I think it was this horrifying experience at the tender age of 8, that I now must eat things separate, but equal.  But I digress.  So here are these ingredients which typically would be served scooped on the plate separately, being served to me all on one spoon.  Sitting down, hoping no one sees my trepidation, I take my first bite, and voila, who knew... it's awesome!  I ask, what do you call this?  The answer is just "the ham, egg and pea thing."

I have yet to really play with this recipe, since I find it's pretty perfect.  The combination really needs no added flavor or changes.  While I've often thought about what I could do with it, I hesitate in fear of truly ruining it some night and finding I have a pot full of it, and a husband who won't eat it.  Why mess with something that works?

There is no measuring in this.  Just eyeball how much you need for how many you need to feed and make.

• Leftover cooked ham.  Cut into 1 inch chunks.
• Pasta
• Frozen or leftover peas
• Hard-boiled eggs, sliced
• White Sauce - Milk/Butter/Flower/White Pepper/Mustard Powder

1. Boil water, pour in pasta, about 1/2 way through cooking, add your peas to cook them if frozen, and cook until pasta is just al dente
2. Strain into colander, let sit, return pot to burner on med-high
3. Melt ~6T of butter, sprinkle in white pepper to taste (later you can add more), add ~1/4c flour and a good shake of the mustard powder - keep stirring, don't let it sit, you'll burn it.  cook for a minute or two to make the flour taste go away.. this is a rue
4. Add to the rue, 2 to 2.5 c milk, whisk and keep whisking until it comes to a slight boil and starts to thicken -> White Sauce
5. Turn down to low, keep a watch and stir often
6. Fry up your ham so it's warm
7. Cut your boiled eggs (about 4).  slice and dice, so the pieces are large enough to find, but not giant
8. Put the eggs into the white sauce and whisk up well until all the yolk is dissovled and mixed in
9. Add the ham to the pot
10. Add the pasta/peas to the pot
11. Mix until all items are coated in white sauce
12. Serve

I like mine with a sprinkle of black pepper over the top.
This is something that even my 4 year old picky eating daughter will consume with glee.