Ham salad might not be a novelty for some of you...but for me, it is. Growing up, I ate tunafish salad...often...and on rare occasions, "weird" chicken salad at someone else's house. I wasn't exposed to ham salad until I was in my teens, at which point I looked at the pink mush and thought...no WAY am I eating that! Fortunately, I aged with some good sense (hey, I said SOME) and have recently taken the leap. For all of you who had been in my shoes, I say...TRY IT! YOU'LL LIKE IT! IT MIGHT JUST BE THE BEST THING YOU EVER PUT IN YOUR MOUTH! (Was that too hammy?)
For those of you who are familiar with ham salad, this is a different spin than many recipes I've found. I know it sounds kinda odd, but stick with me. Most recipes use hunks of leftover baked ham--this utilizes lunchmeat. What can I say? I had a bunch extra and was sick of lunchmeat sandwiches...
1 pound sliced ham lunchmeat
1/4c whole mustard seed, rehydrated in beer of choice (I used a wit)
3 heaping tablespoons of prepared horseradish
2 stalks celery
1/2 small onion (about a 1/4 diced)
3 hardboiled eggs
1 T French's mustard
1c mayonnaise
1. Get out your food processor. Take the chunk of lunchmeat and cut it into strips and then squares. This helps the processor work more quickly. Process the ham until it is a pile of tiny bits. Scrape the ham into a medium-sized (2 quarts or so?) bowl.
2. Loosely chop the celery and onion and put it in the processor. Process to desired size--I recommend the equivalent of a dice. Scrape the veg into the bowl with the ham.
3. Cut up the hardboiled eggs (I sliced across, then cut the slices into rough thirds). Add to bowl.
4. Dump in the mustard seed, horseradish, mustard, and mayonnaise. Mix with a spoon. Add fresh cracked pepper if desired. Taste and adjust.
5. Spread on bread and eat! Better than you thought, right?
Give it a try and let me know what you think.
