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.
I have always taken "deviled" to mean, "garnished with a homeopathic amount of paprika in a winking symbolic reference to capsicum," i.e., about as naughty as white folks ever got in the 1950's, i.e., "This dish makes you grieve for the spicy food your ancestors never ate."
I am pregnant and just had the most wicked Deviled Ham craving just this past weekend. I was reading "The Glass Castle" by Jeanette Walls and she mentioned it several times. Books do that to me. Anyway, I went straight to the store and bought a can of Underwood's. All I added was some diced celery for crunch but dill pickle sounds fantastic as well. Thank you for your just in time post.
According to the Oxford Companion to Food,
Devil–a culinary term which . . . first appeared as a noun in the 18th century, and then in the early 19th century as a verb meaning to cook something with fiery hot spices or condiments. . . . The term was presumably adopted because of the connection between the devil and the excessive heat in Hell. . . . Boswell, Dr Johnson's biographer, frequently refers to partaking of a dish of "devilled bones" for supper, which suggests an earlier use (reference 3).
Southern church suppers often boasted "stuffed" eggs or ham as they thought the reference to the devil might not "go down a treat" with the brethren. 🙂 But oddly enough, at those church suppers there was always a Devil's Food (Chocolate) Cake which I can only assume is so utterly rich and decadent it HAS to be "of the devil hisself". Frankly, I'll take Devil's Food cake over Angel Food anyday. I'm just sayin'….
Oh boy, I loved those little cans of deviled ham. I figured they were just another processed sodium bomb, like Vienna Sausage sandwiches, that I was better off giving up. Thanks for this decidedly less guilt-inducing recipe.
DessertForTwo is right about tasso. I can't believe such a delicious pork product is so close to Texas and still so confined to Louisiana! It's like never hearing about andouille or something. The Laurelhurst Market guys in Portland, OR, of all places, make wonderful tasso.
I've never heard of this lovely lookin' treat! must try – sounds great on Ritz crackers, eh?
i always assumed the term "deviled" meant hot and spicy or red… but some people call deviled eggs "deviled" without all that, so I dunno. according to a commenter above, i might have been right!