Deviled Ham

This has been a crazy busy year in the garden - they all are, but with Mr. Ferdzy engaged in building a fence and installing drip irrigation, it's been worse than usual - and I have been leaning hard on making dips and spreads such as Hummus and Red Pepper Paté once a week to have with bread and crudités or salad for lunches all week. Deviled ham works well as one of those spreads.

It requires a little - only a little - effort to make, but a piece of ham will be less expensive to buy than deli slices, and quite possibly better quality too, providing you choose carefully. As ever, avoid anything pre-cooked or pre-sliced, or full of brine and gelatine. 

This is quite a lot like my favourite Ham Salad, but smoother and spicier, although just how spicy is up to you. You could make sandwiches with it, but I like to put it out and have us serve ourselves as part of the experience.

 

6 to 8 servings

20 minutes prep time

PLUS 3 hours to set

1/4 cup ham or chicken stock

1/2 teaspoon granulated gelatine

200 grams (1/2 pound) diced cooked ham

1 shallot OR 2 garlic scapes

1 tablespoon or more Dijon or hotter mustard

1 tablespoon or more prepared horseradish

chile-garlic or other hot sauce to taste

1 tablespoon mayonnaise

1 tablespoon relish or sweet pickles 

2 allspice berries

Warm the stock, and put it in a small bowl. Sprinkle the gelatine over it, and set it aside for the moment. 

Cut the ham into dice, and put it in the bowl of a food processor. Peel and chop the shallot or scapes and add it as well. Add the mustard, horseradish, hot sauce to taste, the mayonnaise, and the relish. Grind the allspice berries finely, and add them. Process until the mixture is fairly smooth. Add the stock and gelatine, and process briefly again until blended. Taste it, and adjust the seasonings as needed.

Transfer the deviled ham to a serving dish, ideally with a lid, and keep chilled until serving time; allow several hours to rest. 

 

 

 

 

Last year at this time I made Green Pea Cutlets & Shirazi Salad.