By New Year 2023. Rémy's peas. Sixth year. The tradition so solid you could build a house on it. I stood in the kitchen and watched him and thought: next year he'll be thirteen. A teenager. The last of my three children to cross the line. And the line is just a number, but the number is a door, and behind the door is the same thing that's behind every door: the future, which is uncertain and beautiful and coming whether you're ready or not.
Made a pot of pork and turnip greens — a Southern classic for the new year, the greens representing money (they're green, get it?) and the pork representing progress (forward-moving, like a pig's snout). It's superstition dressed as tradition dressed as food, and I participate in every layer because a man who makes roux for forty-five minutes to cook for four hours is not a man who objects to superstition. Superstition is patience. Patience is faith. Faith is roux. QED.
That pot of pork and turnip greens feeds the ritual, but it also feeds the week — and after the ceremony of the thing, you want something simpler to carry the flavor forward. This Ham Salad Spread is where the pork goes next: no roux, no forty-five minutes of stirring, just the good honest meat transformed into something you can spread on bread and hand to a nearly-thirteen-year-old without ceremony. The tradition made portable. Rémy approved.
Ham Salad Spread
Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 0 minutes | Total Time: 10 minutes | Servings: 6
Ingredients
- 2 cups cooked ham, finely diced or ground
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons sweet pickle relish
- 1 tablespoon yellow mustard
- 1 tablespoon finely diced celery
- 1 tablespoon finely diced onion
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- Salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Prepare the ham. Finely dice or pulse the cooked ham in a food processor until it reaches a coarse, spreadable consistency — not a paste, but no large chunks remaining.
- Mix the base. In a medium bowl, combine the mayonnaise, sweet pickle relish, yellow mustard, celery, onion, and garlic powder. Stir until evenly blended.
- Combine. Fold the prepared ham into the mayonnaise mixture and stir well until everything is fully incorporated.
- Season. Taste and adjust with salt and black pepper as needed. The ham and relish both carry salt, so go easy until you’ve tasted it first.
- Chill and serve. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to let the flavors come together. Serve spread on sandwich bread, crackers, or alongside sliced vegetables.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 160 | Protein: 11g | Fat: 11g | Carbs: 4g | Fiber: 0g | Sodium: 620mg