Deviled ham salad
After a full day in the kitchen, I like to take a walk to clear my head. On a recent stroll, I spotted a friend holding court in a neighborhood Southern restaurant. He had just moved to New York and as I hadn’t seen him in a while, I popped inside and said howdy. We decided to order some light snacks and saw deviled tasso listed on the menu. What’s that, we wondered? We ordered it and after one bite, I realized it was nothing more than a variation on my old favorite, deviled ham.
Deviled ham also made an appearance at a Derby Day party. A friend had found a can of Underwood’s Deviled Ham and brought it to share with the other guests. She’d never eaten it before but was intrigued by the iconic white can with the grinning devil. (Does anyone know what deviled, when applied to food, actually means?) I hadn’t seen that can in years, but I instantly remembered how much I loved deviled ham and pickle sandwiches when I was young. I decided it was time to make a batch of my own.
I didn’t have to look far for a recipe.
At Christmas, my cousin Susan brought her famous ham salad to our family gathering and the big bowl of it was gone in about a minute. We spread it on buttery crackers, a perfect vehicle for the ham salad that was filled with flavors spicy, tangy and sweet.
I asked her for the recipe and she laughed and said she didn’t have one. Of course, she didn’t! That happens so often in my family—we just throw together ingredients and taste until everything is balanced. And I’m not complaining—that’s certainly my favorite way to cook.
She did, however, give me her list of ingredients. There was ham, of course, along with pickles, mustard, and peppers. And like a detective I took these clues and tried to solve the mystery of her famous ham salad. It actually wasn’t difficult—if you have any experience making protein-based salads such as tuna salad, chicken salad or even pimento cheese, you get a feel for how much of each ingredient should belong. This time, however, I kept notes of just how much I was adding so I could pass it on to you.
Ham salad is versatile as you can stuff it into celery, spread it on crackers, scoop it onto an iceberg wedge, or layer it on buttered bread. And while it’s perfect for warm days, I find that it’s pretty much appreciated at any time of year.
Deviled ham salad
Ingredients
- 2 cups chopped ham
- 1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper
- 1/4 cup onion, finely diced
- 1 large dill pickle, diced
- 1 jalapeño, seeded, stemmed, and diced
- 3 tablespoons mayo
- 3 tablespoons mustard
- 1 teaspoon pickle juice
- Salt
- Black pepper
Instructions
- In a food processor, mix all the ingredients together until blended but not too smooth as you want a bit of texture. Taste and adjust any seasoning or add more mayonnaise and mustard if you like. Keeps in the refrigerator for a few days.
This sounds good. Speaking of Underwood’s Deviled Ham, I use a can of it when making Deviled Eggs (Down here we sometime call them stuffed eggs). Always get a lot of good comments on the Deviled Eggs.
Wendell who married a Texas gal, now living down here in LA. That’s Lower Alabama for you who don’t know it………..
I had always thought "deviled" (as in "deviled eggs") meant mustard was added. According to good old Wikipedia, it's broader than that: "The term "deviled", in reference to food, was in use in the 18th century, first known print reference appearing in 1786.[1] In the 19th century, it came to be used most often with spicy or zesty food, including eggs prepared with mustard, pepper, or other ingredients stuffed in the yolk cavity."
I like deviled ham or chicken on saltine crackers for a trip straight back to childhood. I like any kind of chilled spread on crackers for a snack at the beach; it gets me out the door faster when I don't have to make sandwiches ahead of time!
Minced celery is the very best in this for texture and color, but in times of no celery I've put in some minced water chestnuts and called it good, too.
If I'm not mistaken, Tasso is a smoked ham product from Louisianna. Whatever it is, it's delicious! Your ham salad recipe looks great–I absolutely love ham! Do you still need recipe testers for your cookbook?
My mom made deviled ham salad using the Underwoods Deviled Ham for our lunches and it was a favorite! Very often when I cook a ham and have some left I will put it in my food processor and make my own deviled ham salad…it's yummy!