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Mama's Ham Salad!

  

In the South, we tend to bake a ham for almost every holiday and occasion.  Christmas, Easter and some even add a baked ham alongside that turkey on Thanksgiving for good measure,  will all definitely call for a baked ham.  If someone dies, graduates, has a church potluck or family reunion, somebody is baking a ham.  We just love a baked ham.  A big ole baked ham can feed a bunch of folks and even after they have all gone home, there will usually be some leftovers from that ham.  If there isn't, you didn't buy a big enough ham.  Buy a bigger one next time...lol.


When I was a child and Mama was baking a ham, I knew we were getting ready for  some special event or company was coming! My job was always to stick the cloves in the little squares she had scored in the top of the ham.  The smell of cloves still takes me back to that little kitchen and sitting around that table with Mama and sometimes other family, while they diced celery and peeled hard boiled eggs for potato salad and deviled eggs.  You know those are a given if you are baking a ham in the South!


  Later on, I also knew there would be leftovers and I never minded that.  As a matter of fact, I loved the leftovers.  My father on the other hand, did not and would grumble for days...lol.  He still does according to Mama.  We had ham sandwiches, ham and rolls, casseroles, ham and noodles, quiches, and on and on, but the thing I really loved was the ham salad.  When my creative mother had made just about all of the things you could out of the ham and all that was left were the smaller pieces and ends of the ham, she would grind those up and make her ham salad.  The best ham salad is made with the remnants of a good baked ham.  That sweet glaze you bake the ham in just makes that ham salad so much better.  If you need a good recipe for baking the ham first, try my "Kentucky Bourbon Brown Sugar Ham" or "Nana's Smiley Face Ham"!


Now, on to the discussion of ham salad that I would call the 'real deal'.  We like the ham in ham salad ground up or at least chopped fairly fine.  Big chunks of ham do not spread all that well and for me, it's just not as appetizing.  However, if you like it that way, go for it.   It's best to  grind your ham with a food processor or a meat grinder, but don't over do it.  Sometimes, food processors do too much to food. We are not making pate.  You can use one of those manual food chopper things.  My favorite one is the kind Pampered Chef sells.  You can't chop much at a time, but it gets the consistency just right for things like this.   I also chop my celery for this very fine.  Here is what you will need for this ham salad:


4 cups ham, finely chopped or ground
4 hard boiled eggs, chopped
1/2 cup celery, finely chopped
1/2 cup sweet pickle relish (we grind up bread and butter pickles usually)
1 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp. lemon juice
2 tsp. yellow mustard
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. sugar (You might need 2 tsp. if your ham was not baked in a sweet glaze)


Mix all ingredients together and serve or cover and refrigerate until ready to use.








24 comments:

  1. Sounds so good!!!!

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  2. Love ham salad and this one sounds delicious.

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  3. Sounds wonderful! I also like to make potato soup with the ham bone toward the end! ;)

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  4. Got a country ham in the fridge that I cant wait to finish so I can make ham salad. Enjoy your blog.

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  5. Love The Way You Explain Things On This Page, I'm From Texas And Always Thought I am From The South.But Come To Find Out I'm From The West... Not, I'm Southern Thru And Thru, I Gain At Least 10 LBS. Every Time I Read Your Recipes...

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  6. my mom used to make it out of bologna...I spose that would be considered "Sandwich Spread" and hers had boiled egg, shredded cheese and sweet pickles...yum! We preferred it to ham salad, I guess maybe it just wasn't quite as salty.

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  7. We always made "ham" salad with bologna.

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    1. Can't wait to try this. We have always made Ham Salad with bologna.

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  8. We always called ham salad just that and the bologna ground bologna.

    Our ground bologna had the ingredients of the above ham salad, different meat of course, with the addition of onion, vinegar, salt and pepper.

    We put the bologna, eggs and onion through a grinder then mixed it with the remaining ingredients.

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  9. I never was crazy about ham salad, but, your ham salad sounds so scrumptious, I'll have to try it. Thanks for sharing it.

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  10. This was really good! I added a bunch of celery seeds!

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  11. It sounds like you grew up in our house. This recipe is how I learned to make if from my Mom. Great page.

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  12. Heaven! Thank you for this receipe, I can't wait to make this! Also, thank you for all the recipes, I use your site religiously so THANK YOU SO MUCH for taking the time to post these recipes, complete with pictures and easy to understand instructions. It is definitly appreciated. I wish you would include a little section about yourself as well, it would be nice to know something of the lady who makes all this wonderful food!

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  13. This is my go-to-page for recipes. The step-by-step instructions make the recipes easy to follow. Every recipe I have made has been yummy! Thanks!

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  14. Ironically, we baked a ham earlier this week and I was running out of ideas for the leftovers. I've only tried ham salad once, before, and it was too salty for me (maybe it was made with country ham, instead of city ham). I will try this. Do you think it would be okay to just throw all the ingredients into a food processor, or would that make it too mushy? Thank you. :) KC in NC

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  15. Thank you for the recipe. I love ham salad and this one sounds sooo good!

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  16. Do you think just using those small packages of Ham Steaks would be ok for this recipe?

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    1. Yes, as long as it says "fully cooked and ready to serve" on the package. Otherwise, you will need to cook it some before grinding it.

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  17. I knew people who made 'ham' salad with bologna, so one day I decided to try it since I didn't have ham. UGH! I put the bologna in the food processor, and the blade got so bogged down by the fat that came out of the bologna that it nearly made me sick. I have not eaten bologna since! Bring on the ham!

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  18. We used bologna too when my mother made it. I had a grocery store give me some sweet pickle vinegar that they used as well in theirs. Have you ever heard of that before? Since then, this family-owned store has closed.

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  19. funny we have always made this with bologna & called it ham salad lol - but i alternate chunk bologna & chunk american cheese thru the processor them add the mayo, chopped pickles, & onions. I have never used the boiled eggs, celery, lemon juice, mustard, or Worcestershire sauce. but it sounds good i will have to try this one. Im not a ham fan, I have tried it made from ham once, & found it too salty but i think that rest on what kind of ham you use -I now only eat Kretschmar ham it has the right amout of salt seasoning Ive not wanted to eat HAM salad ever again, but your recipe sounds pretty good so I may try it soon. thnx for the share.....

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  20. Thats how I was raised to make it too.

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  21. That sounds exactly like the ham salad my Mother used to make. Her grinder was one of those old heavy steel grinders, which clamped onto the table top. A good ham salad is hard to come by these days.....I think I finally mastered it, after making a few mistakes. Still one of my favorite sandwich filings.......thanks for sharing.

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  22. How can someone make bologna and call it ham salad. I guess if you don't know the taste of ham.Totally different

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