Deviled Ham Salad

By carolync

Old School Deviled Ham Salad, made with ground ham, sweet pickles, pimentos and mayonnaise. My version adds in celery and onion, and a little horseradish, spicy mustard, hot sauce and Cajun seasoning with the mayonnaise.

Ingredients

• 2-1/2 cups of smoked or boiled ham, ground (about 2 large thick slices or 1/2 pound)
• 4 sweet gherkin pickles
• 1/4 cup of minced onion
• 1/8 cup of minced celery
• 1 (3 ounce) jar of chopped pimentos, drained
• 1/4 cup of real mayonnaise, more or less
• 2 teaspoons of horseradish
• 2 teaspoons of spicy mustard
• 1 tablespoon of fresh, chopped parsley
• Dash of hot sauce
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon of Cajun seasoning, or to taste, optional

Preparation

Step 1

Use a grinder or a food processor to mince up a couple of nice, thick slices of ham. You'll want about a half pound, or what will amount to about two and a half cups of ground ham. If you're using the traditional, whole gherkins, grind those too. Transfer to a storage bowl because once this is all mixed up, you'll want to refrigerate it for a few hours or overnight to let the flavor meld.

I substituted a well-drained, homemade sweet pickle relish that I made this past summer. Add the pimentos. I'm using a small jar of already chopped pimentos, but if you're using whole pimentos, add those in with the ham and pickles when you grind them.

Grind the onion and celery, or mince and add in.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise with all of the remaining ingredients until well blended. Pour the mayonnaise over the ham mixture and mix well. Taste and adjust the seasonings as needed.

smoked or boiled ham

Use a grinder or pulse ham in a food processor until minced; add to a lidded storage bowl. Grind or mince the pickles and add to the ham. Add onion, celery and pimentos and mix together. In a separate bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise with all of the remaining ingredients, until well blended. Pour over the ham mixture; mix well, taste and adjust seasonings. Refrigerate for several hours until needed; overnight is even better. Spread on crust-less white bread for finger sandwiches and serve with a side of pickled okra and crispy kettle chips, or scoop onto a plate alongside celery and carrot sticks, and serve with pickle spears and crackers.

Grind or finely chop a few hard-boiled eggs to add in. For a basic ham salad, use only the ham, pickles, pimentos and mayonnaise. For bologna salad, substitute ground bologna. You may also use sweet pickle cubes or relish, but drain well before adding to the ham. Use additional mayonnaise as needed for desired consistency.
uses, but it has been mostly replaced by the one that mounts on the Kitchen aid mixer.