Old School Ham and Pickle Salad

by

I took a walk down memory lane recently and remade a favorite Ham & Pickle sandwich. I grew up with this forgotten sibling to the ubiquitous tuna and egg salads and have some great memories of it. My Aunt would start making make this dish for me as soon as she got word I was coming back to CT for a visit and im not talking a little bowl.. Im talking quarts!

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 pound of cooked ham (you can use a baked, boiled, a ham steak or thick slices of ham from the deli)

  • 1 stalk (or 1/2 cup finely diced celery)

  • 1/2 half of white or red onion rough chop

  • 4-5 pickles (about a 1/2 cup dill pickles diced or use relish)

  • 2 tablespoons pickle brine

  • 1/2 cup mayonnaise

  • 1 tablespoon dijon mustard (more to taste)

  • Fresh black pepper to taste

  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes

  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

  • 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. In a food processor, blitz the ham into a small chop (3-4 times pulses).

  2. Add onions, pulse.

  3. Add the remaining ingredients to the processor with the ham and onion and pulse several seconds to your desired texture.

  4. Taste for seasonings and adjust if needed. I like balance salad that tastes like ham but with the mayo and mustard to balance sweet and sharp

  5. Remove from the food processor into a sealable bowl (I’m a huge LockNLock fan for this). Mix with a spatula

  6. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour, then stir again , taste for salt, pepper etc. before serving.

Serving options; Spread on your preferred bread and make a sandwich or scoop some in bowl with a side of crackers, pita chips, celery sticks or core a tomato and fill.