Witamy!
Easter ham gets our prize for being one of the most versatile
and delicious culinary gifts of the entire year. The left overs are delicious and in our
kitchen no part of our ham ever goes to waste.
We always buy a much bigger ham than we really need for the
Easter feast. We like the spiral cut
hams because they’re easier to work with when trimming the bone for left
overs. After the feast, when we can
barely stand and all we want is a nap, we sharpen the carving knife and attack
the bone. Our daughter and son-in-law
always cut off a big hunk to take home for their lunches and favorite left over
dishes. Next, the nice large slices are
saved for our own sandwiches or tomorrow’s instant replay supper – no cooking
required. The medium sized pieces are trimmed of their
fat, julienned and put in the freezer for a favorite ham and noodle casserole (see
our blog post of April 10, 2012.)
Then
we start the final trim to pull off the smallest pieces destined for a ham
salad. But we’re always careful to save
enough ham on the bone for a good soup.
The trimmed bone is carefully wrapped and deposited in the freezer as
well.
Those smallest pieces are perfect for a ham and vegetable
salad that is a lovely variation on a classic Polish Vegetable Salad (Polish
Classic Recipes, Page 22). It’s a great
way to use up the rest of the ham, making sure that none of that goodness is wasted.
Vegetable Ham Salad
Serves 12
6 medium potatoes, boiled, & diced, well cooled
2 packages frozen mixed vegetables, defrosted
2 small dill pickles, diced
(optional)
2 cups ham, coarsely chopped
3 tablespoons dill, chopped
(fresh is best)
Salt & pepper to taste
1 ½ cups mayonnaise
2 tablespoons yellow mustard
2 hard boiled eggs, sliced
3 small beets, sliced (canned are fine)
Lettuce leaves & radish for decoration
Boil the potatoes until just firm – when a fork goes in
easily. Boil the vegetables until just
done. Combine the diced potatoes, vegetables, pickles, 2 tablespoons of dill
and ham. Season with salt and pepper but
go easy on the salt because the ham’s natural saltiness. Taste. Fold
in the mayonnaise and mustard and combine well.
Taste for final seasoning. Serve in a pretty bowl or arrange
in the form of a dome on a serving platter, garnished with the lettuce
leaves. Sprinkle the remaining chopped
dill over the top. Decorate creatively with
the sliced eggs and beets. Serve at room
temperature. Smacznego!