This must be my week to try new things.  I cannot recall having ham salad before and to be honest I was a tad bit reluctant  to try it.   I love most things that include the word salad…tuna salad, potato salad, definitely chicken salad, egg salad..but ham salad?  Yes, ham salad.  Now, I know lots of people are very familiar with ham salad but not me, so forgive my innocence or what I call now…my ignorance.  Several recipes for ham salad have caught my eye, and I have kind of planned to make it, but the minute I saw this little beauty, I knew I would have to make it.   Like now.  Cannot wait.  Impulsivity reigns supreme when it comes to a recipe I see that must be made.  I may perish if I don’t make this asap.  (said in my best Southern damsel in distress voice…)  Tomorrow is another day and by God, I will make this ham salad!!!  Now,   what I love about this recipe is that it is simple and straightforward.  I like recipes that tell me how to get from a to z directly.  Shortest route here people.  No need to reinvent the wheel.  I guess because I deal with kiddo mood swings, fake illnesses, deciphering their language (mine are all at ages where nothing is as simple as it once seemed, maybe it is just me?)…so a recipe should get down to the nitty gritty pretty quickly.  If you start off and tell me that I need to cook a whole ham first before I can get a ham salad out of it…well no thank you.  I am tired, need more coffee and want ham salad.  This recipe took you straight to it.  No hoops to jump through.  This is very easy, takes few ingredients and you can double to feed a hungry bunch if you need to.  Now, this original recipe comes from a cookbook that is now at the top of my list to buy.  My birthday is coming up…hint to BD.  The cookbook is called Callie’s Biscuits and Southern Traditions and I discovered it when I came across blog lovin and this link~ http://www.thecountrycook.net/2014/01/callies-ham-salad.html?m=1.  If you have never had ham salad, I encourage you to try this recipe.  It made a believer out of me.  we ate it in a sandwich, but some people spread it on crackers.   I will be making this one again and again.  Cajun mama is a ham salad convert…spread the word.

Definitely on my make again list…already.  

Ham Salad

Stuff you need~

1 lb. ham (I used a ham steak that I bought at the store.  It was a little over a pound.  That is what the blogger I got this recipe from did.  But you can use leftover ham from Easter (great idea, Laura!) or any time you bake a good ole ham.

3 stalks celery, cut into 1 inch pieces

1/2 onion, chopped

2/3 cup mayo (as always…Duke’s is my fave)

2 Tablespoons Dijon mustard

2 sandwich sliced pickles, chopped (I used BD’s favorite kind Claussen that we already have in the house-picture below)

1 1/2 tsp. pickle juice

1 Tablespoon light brown sugar

kosher salt and black pepper to taste (slow your roll and give it a taste first.  I added salt without reading that part and it was a tad too salty for us.  But still amazing)

What to do with the stuff~

Now, she suggests just pulsing the ham and celery together for 20-25 pulses or so.  Again, I did not read all the way through and tossed all the ingredients in the food processor and pulsed it all.  I had left the pickles and onions pretty coarsely chopped and it turned out fine.  If you don’t have a food processor, you can still make this but the consistency might be a tad off unless you chop the ham silly fine.  So, as I said, my way was to throw it everything into the food processor and pulse it a few times until it was combined. Lol!  I was being a hardheaded gal today (or more so than usual…) She says after you pulse the ham and celery set aside.  In a bowl, combine other ingredients.  Add the ham and celery mixture to the mayo mixture and gently stir.    Potato potato I say.  It was dang good my way so I think any way you go, you are golden!!  And that ham salad will taste so good with a glass of iced tea and some potato chips.  Ya know…if you like that sort of thing.  And I do.  I really do.  OOH she also added a few  pieces of chopped green onion (green parts) to the finished product.  I did this as well.  Mmmmmmm….

Yes, yes, I am a believer in the powers of ham salad.  

Big Daddy’s and Benny’s favorite pickles 

All set to be pulsed all together into a lovely ham salad…it was good even if I didn’t do it right