Off The Cuff Recipes: Chopped Ham and Ham Salad

I don't always have recipes for the stuff I prepare at home. When I was learning how to cook from my mother, there wasn't always a recipe to follow - she would put in "a little of this and some of that," and when suppertime rolled around, the meal was on the table.

Nowadays I still cook like that, though when I'm going to write a blog post about it I try to pay attention as I go along and write down notes with specific measurements and steps to make it easier for readers to recreate what I've done. But some "recipes" are so simple that I don't really need to do that.  Chopped ham is one of those recipes, so I'm using it as an inaugural post for what I hope will become a semi-regular feature called "Off The Cuff Recipes." I'll present the recipes exactly the way I do it so you can use the post as sort of a "rough draft" towards making your own, or as a springboard for discussion in the comments about how you go about making a similar dish.

Chopped ham is super easy. Just get some leftover ham - or even some "ham ends" from the deli - and run them through a food chopper. Chop as much as you want. Measure out the chopped ham and for every cup of ham you have, add a couple of tablespoons of sweet pickle relish. Toss them together well and refrigerate for a couple of hours to let the flavors blend.

You can eat the chopped ham just the way it is, or add a little mayo to it and spread it on rye bread for sandwiches. It's pretty awesome.

Note:  Food choppers are different than meat grinders.  Read about the difference here.