ISO 60's Recipe for Ham Salad

[Shoppe]

I am looking for a recipe for chopped ham salad that was called
Cat Food. Anyone familiar???Ham, pickles, cheese, Mayo?

 

[Andy M.]

Hi, Shoppe, welcome to DC.

The ham salad from back in the 60s was usually made with chopped ham, chopped sweet pickles, mayonnaise and whatever else you like.

 

[Michael in FtW]

LOL - I'm guessing it was called "Cat Food" by your Dad who was not too fond of it?

You can make ham salad a bunch of ways - check out some of these recipes to see what I mean. It can be a sandwich spread, it can be a salad with rice or pasta.

 

[StirBlue]

There were people who adored that cat food special. Cat Food meaning it is grated ham. And it is mixed with minced sweet pickle (or finely chopped relish) and mayo or salad dressing. Back in the day (60's) some people put in a little boiled egg and if desired some minced onion. It was a favorite lunch special at a lot of restaurants.

 

[cjs]

...with a touch of mustard, celery and red onion.

 

[BreezyCooking]

Yup - StirBlue has it down pat. My mom used to make us ham salad sandwiches for lunch after a ham dinner quite frequently. They also used it as a cracker topping.

It was simply finely chopped ham, sweet pickle relish, & mayo - sometimes with some finely minced onion; sometimes not. That was it.

I never heard it called "cat food" though.

 

[Katie H]

Right on. Yup. We had a similar sandwich spread when I was a child. My aunt also made something she called Spamwiches. Instead of ham, she would grind up Spam in her clamp-on kitchen grinder, mix it with mayo, sweet pickles, sometimes ground up onion. It was really good. I haven't thought about it in years.

 

[VegasDramaQueen]

My mother in law made fantastic ham salad. This was back in The early 60's when I first married into the family. She only made it when she had a baked ham. She would grind the ham, sweet pickle, celery and onions. Yes, she had a clamp on metal grinder too. Blend together then mix in mayonnaise. Put that on a Kaiser roll or fresh sourdough bread and you have the makings of a fabulous sandwich. I still do it that way today, but I use half mayo and half Kraft salad dressing, (looks just like mayo) and I could eat the whole bowl.

 

[amber]

My mother used to make ham salad with leftovers after a boiled ham dinner. No idea what she put into it, but it was delicious. Our supermarket sells it too. It doesnt have a very appealing appearance but it tastes great.

 

[bevkile]

I make mine with a good quality bologna, boiled eggs, relish, and Miracle whip. I do it in the food processor, one ingredient at a time and pulse it to desired consistency, pour it into a bowl and then mix in relish and MW. I call it bologna salad sandwich spread. Here in the area of the south where we live, they are not familiar with it.

 

[Barb L.]

I make mine with a good quality bologna, boiled eggs, relish, and Miracle whip. I do it in the food processor, one ingredient at a time and pulse it to desired consistency, pour it into a bowl and then mix in relish and MW. I call it bologna salad sandwich spread. Here in the area of the south where we live, they are not familiar with it.

My Mom use to make hers with bologna too, in a grinder, w/ same ingred. Yum !

 

[Constance]

I just made ham salad last week, the same way my mom did back in the 60's, with one small change. She ground up sweet pickles, but I use sweet relish instead, along with ham, cheese, hard boiled eggs, a little mustard, and miracle whip.
We love it.
You can use an inexpensive boneless ham for this, or substitute balogna, which we like as well as the ham.

 

[VegasDramaQueen]

BEVKILE: Thanks. It was Miracle Whip that I was trying to say in my post. All I could think of was Kraft Salad Dressing. My mind shuts down every once in a while.

 

[Constance]

BEVKILE: Thanks. It was Miracle Whip that I was trying to say in my post. All I could think of was Kraft Salad Dressing. My mind shuts down every once in a while.

Don't feel like the Lone Ranger, dear. It happens to all of us. My husband calls it "sometimer's"