Outdoor Gourmet: Cedar Planked Ham and Potato Chowder

I do this strange thing- I'll open up the fridge and stare intently into the depths. Nothing will pique my interest, so I wander off, only to be back in that same spot 10 minutes later. Again, I assess the contents of the refrigerator- oddly enough, nothing has changed. There is still a couple red potatoes, two carrots, celery, and a bit of wilty-looking basil. And a cured ham that I bought "just 'cause" about a week ago. Hmmm. What to do... soup! We're gonna plank that ham and make a Cold Weather Ham and Potato Chowder. Quick- go get an Outdoor Gourmet Cedar Grilling Plank soaking. It needs to be in the water for at least an hour.

Ingredients

Outdoor Gourmet Cedar Grilling Plank, soaked for an hour or more
2 lb. cured Ham for planking (you'll have leftovers- delicious with eggs)
1/4 cup of butter
4 cups of milk
4 Tbs. vegetable stock (large splash)
1/4 cup of all purpose flour
2 cups red potatoes, diced with skins still on
1/2 of celery, diced
1 cup onion, dices
1 cup carrots, peeled and Julienned
1 bay leaf
1 Tbs. fresh bail
Fresh cracked black pepper and salt

1/4 of beer (we used Deschutes Inversion IPA)
1/2 brown sugar
1 Tbs. Minced Garlic
1 tps. Oregano

Directions

First: Soak Outdoor Gourmet Cedar Grilling Plank for an hour or more.

Then: Chop up all the needed-to-used-up-yesterday veggies in your fridge. Saute veggies (except the potato) with a bay leaf using olive oil and a splash of vegetable stock. Boil diced potatoes until al dente. Set sauteed veggies and potatoes aside.

Next: combine equal parts of butter and flour in a small saucepan over medium-low heat until paste-like texture is achieved, then whisk in 2 cups of milk until smooth and thick, creating a Béchamel sauce.

Preheat: grill to Medium-Low. Add soaked Outdoor Gourmet Cedar Grilling Plank to the grill and allow it to warm up for 5 minutes or so. Meanwhile, combine beer, brown sugar, and garlic into thick slurry and baste ham. Add ham, flat side down, to plank. Allow to smoke for 35 minutes basting with brown sugar slurry every 10 minutes.

Then: Remove ham from grill and dice. Add veggies, potatoes, and ham to the Béchamel sauce, and slowing stir in the additional milk. Bring to simmer, add basil and salt and pepper to taste.