Curried Egg and Ham Casserole

[BakerAunt]

I received seven hardboiled Easter eggs from a friend today. Her grandchildren left them behind, and nine were too many for her. I said that I would take them because I had a sudden yearning for a casserole that my mother used to make after Easter. After looking around, I've realized that the box of main dish recipes is apparently still packed somewhere, and I had not yet transcribed it into my most frequently used recipe binder. 🙁

Would anyone have such a recipe for a Curried Ham and Hardboiled Egg casserole that has crushed cornflakes tossed in butter as the topping? I remember that it uses a white sauce, to which sweet curry powder, and maybe a bit of dried mustard (?) is added. I've looked on the internet but have not found it. I'm not sure where my mother got the recipe. I'm thinking it must have been from one of her older cookbooks or else clipped from a newspaper. I seem to recall her starting to make it with leftover eggs and ham from Easter in the mid to late 1960s.

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• This topic was modified 6 years, 8 months ago by BakerAunt.

[BakerAunt]

I'm beginning to think that the original recipe used powdered mustard and that my mother may have substituted in the sweet curry. I found an internet recipe that I can use as a base for recreating her recipe, which may also have included canned mushrooms.

[Mike Nolan]

I did some looking around and didn't find any recipes that looked like the met your criteria. (I don't do curry dishes because of allergy issues.)

[BakerAunt]

Thanks for searching, Mike. This is the one that I'm planning to adapt, if my sister does not have the recipe:

http://www.geniuskitchen.com/recipe/ham-casserole-27528

[Joan Simpson]

I looked for the recipe too but I didn't find one with boiled eggs.The recipe you posted looks good,I'm not crazy about curry.

[BakerAunt]

My favorite curry is the Penzey's Sweet Curry. My mother used only sweet curry. She used it in this dish and she always added it to her chicken/turkey stock, which I do as well. I have a curried chicken over rice recipe, but my husband is not fond of curry as a main flavor, so I've not made it in a while.

I use the Penzey's Now Curry for my butternut soup. I think that it has more ginger in it and has a hotter tang. I tried it only because they sent me a free sample. It works in that soup, but I've not yet found any other recipe in which to use it.

[BakerAunt]

I tried the recipe, and it is very close to my Mom's. Here is what I changed:

I deleted the salt (there's enough in the cornflake crumbs and ham).

I used 1 tsp. Penzey's Sweet Curry in place of the Italian seasoning.

I used 1 Cup of Cornflake crumbs in place of croutons--and yes, I bought the already crushed cornflakes--and I used them only on top.

I started by spreading some of the white sauce in a casserole dish that I had sprayed with Pam. The dish is 10 1/2 x 8 inches, and is about 2 1/4 inches tall. It was a good fit.

I began with a layer of slices from three eggs. (I used my handy, dandy wire egg slicer to cut them.) I sprinkled on half the ham, then spooned half the mushrooms (sautéed in 1 Tbs. butter) on top. I put half the sauce evenly over this layer, then repeated. After putting the rest of the sauce on, I sprinkled the cornflake mixture on top.

As I said, it is very close to my Mom's recipe. I think that it needed another 1/4 tsp. of curry. Of course, she probably used Schillings or Spice Island curry, so it would be a different blend. I would also cut back the butter with the cornflake topping, as I think it covered up the cornflake flavor.

When I find the original recipe, I will check out how this one compares and add to this post. However, that will not be until the remodel is started and finished.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 8 months ago by BakerAunt.

[Joan Simpson]

BakerAunt this sounds very good!

[BakerAunt]

I had a piece rewarmed in the microwave for lunch. The curry now tastes just right, so I would not use more. I was also surprised that it warmed up so nicely, as I don't recall the original recipe did. The cornflake topping stayed crispy.

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