You know, when we were at Allan's, we learned that a whole country ham is a huge thing.
That every single bite is delicious.
This is my favorite thing to do with some of the trimmings and the end bits and so forth, 'cause this is the start of a wonderful recipe that I call ham salad.
So what I'm doing is I am coarsely chopping about a fist size hunk of my country ham.
And I'm gonna put it in a food processor.
Now the ham is salty and briny and smokey and it's strong.
So although that flavor is great on a biscuit, sometimes it's a little bit too much for the ham salad.
So what I like to do is to blend it with a little bit of so-called city ham.
And by that I mean a ham like you might put on a sandwich.
And I generally use about an equal portion of the country ham and the city ham.
So I'm gonna cut it into some cubes that will fit in my food processor.
Let me add that and then I'm gonna pulse this up until it is finally chopped.
All right, I'm gonna add a couple of other things to the food processor.
The first is a good splash of some good bourbon.
I love Hammond Bourbon.
This is gonna give us some liquid and then just some incredible flavor.
I'm also gonna add good old fashioned mayonnaise.
Not enough, again, just enough to turn this into a bit of a salad or a spread that's gonna hold its shape on the end of a spoon.
And then a wee bit of cayenne.
I like a good big pinch.
And then we're gonna put the lid back on and give this another pulse.
And we're gonna see it start transforming into a dip.
Now here's what I'm gonna do at this point, I'd like to finish this recipe in a bowl, so I can see what's going on.
So I'm gonna take my spatula and transfer this to a bowl and add the rest of my ingredients.
So what is left is some good grainy mustard.
Now this is a Creole style mustard or you can use a whole grain Dijon.
You don't want to use anything like you would put on a hotdog.
You want that wonderful depth of flavor from a good grainy mustard.
So let me fold that in.
And then last but not least, I'm going to put in some pickle relish.
Then I have some finely chopped scallions and a little bit of chopped flat leaf parsley.
And then you fold it together.
That's all there is to this.
And now I get to taste this.
My flavors are so good.
So this is a great little secret.
Not only can you make it ahead, you should make this ahead.
You wanna let it rest in the refrigerator at least overnight and up to five days ahead.
So I made more ham salad yesterday, which it rested overnight.
And I've put about half of it in this cute little serving bowl.
I let this sit out while I was gathering my other things because you wanna serve this at room temperature.
So let me tell you what I like to serve with it to make a snack plate.
I have some cute little pickles and then I'm gonna put a little bit more parsley on top of this for good looks.
I'm gonna put the mustard jar right on the plate.
So if people want a little more mustard, they can serve it right up.
And last but not least, I'm gonna put out some great crackers.
And look, we have a whole party on a plate.
Let me show how it comes together.
So I'm gonna put a little of my ham salad on there, maybe a little dab of mustard.
And let's see how it goes.
[crunching] I have the crunch of a good cracker.
I have the smokiness of the ham.
A little whisper of bourbon that comes up through there, the punch of the mustard.
This is an amazing simple recipe that tastes like it was really a lot of trouble and it's gonna keep for days.
So you can serve your guests, you can serve yourself.
This is in some ways it's like just a nice version of an old farmstead lunch.
Now here's a little thing.
Remember that bourbon I put in there?
I think a good bourbon cocktail is the perfect thing to serve with this, you have an entire party thanks to the trimmings of a good old country ham.