.png)
Deviled Smoked Turkey Appetizer
As holidays approach, I
find myself making more appetizers for gatherings and receptions. “Deviled”
treats, such as eggs or ham, lend a humorously evil touch as a party appetizer
around a religious holiday, a church supper, a wedding, or to kick the New Year
off to a good start. But let’s risk it!
That delightfully wicked
association of the Devil with food typically means spicy, especially with
sulfur-containing seasonings like mustard, black pepper and chilies. The
concept of the Devil and Hell being connected with burning heat and sulfurous
fumes (brimstone is an old name for sulfur) almost certainly comes from early
people’s experience around volcanos and all that fire and bubbling and chaos
and smell “down there” in the pit.
In my childhood a favorite
sandwich spread and appetizer was “Deviled Ham,” which came in iconic small
cans with a dancing, merry red devil on the label. That canned treat, however,
goes back well before my childhood. It was created just after the Civil War by
the Underwood Company, a canning business founded in Boston in the 1820s.
Underwood had already become prominent producing canned foods that fed Union
soldiers in the Civil War, and went on to can foods that pioneers took with
them as they moved West. Of course, I didn’t know all that when I was a kid,
only that Underwood Deviled Ham was luscious.
Although I enjoy pork, as
should be apparent from numerous recipes in this blog, many people do not eat
it. So rather than Deviled Ham, here is a fairly easy appetizer based on smoked
turkey, which will appeal to a wider number of nibblers at the appetizer table.
It hit me to use smoked turkey recently after I had a few slices as a snack
from the deli counter. And smoked turkey that is sold sliced is easy to cut
finely to make the appetizer. In addition to the obligate mustard, black pepper
and chili, I’ve added diced canned pimiento and chopped pickle to give some
color highlights.
The recipe makes a half
pound, which with crackers will provide appetizers for ten or more people. The
mixture should be made in advance, then stored refrigerated for at least a few
hours or up to a day or two before serving, convenient for entertaining or
taking to a pot luck.
While the point of the
recipe is to make an appetizer with smoked turkey, using smoked ham instead of
turkey makes a good dish also.
1/2 pound deli smoked
turkey breast, sliced thinly (or smoked ham, see above)
Bread-and-butter or dill
pickles sufficient to make 2 tablespoons after dicing
2 tablespoons canned diced
pimiento, drained
3 tablespoons Dijon
mustard
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
1 teaspoon vinegar
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/8 teaspoon ground black
pepper
Salt if needed
Paprika for garnish
On a cutting board, using
a chef’s knife, finely dice the turkey by stacking the slices then cutting them
across into 1/8-inch slices, then turning them and cutting into 1/8-inch bits.
Place in a mixing bowl. Place several slices of pickle on cutting board and
dice them up with the chef’s knife. Measure 2 tablespoons, and add them to the
bowl. Drain liquid off the measured diced pimiento and add pimiento to the
bowl.
Add mustard, mayonnaise,
vinegar, cayenne and black pepper. Mix well. Taste, and add a little salt if
needed (smoked turkey varies in saltiness). Cover bowl and refrigerate at least
several hours, or up to several days before serving. Stir the mixture well and
taste. Add a little salt, but only if needed.
To serve, heap the mixture
up on an attractive small platter or shallow bowl. Sprinkle lightly with
paprika. Accompany with small crackers to spoon the mixture onto.
.
