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Adirondack Salad
1 can Peas. 2 large onions 1/4 lb. cheese (any kind) ½ doz. large pickles, sour or dill Strain peas, dice cheese, onions and pickles (sugar pickles if sour) and mix with mayonnaise dressing.
Note: Mrs. C. L. Thomson uses sweet pickles.
A chopped pickle-and-cheese salad of the church-supper type, dressed with mayonnaise and meant to sit alongside cold meat. It assembles in minutes once the dicing is done.
- The missing peasThe instructions call for straining peas, but no quantity is given in the ingredient list. A single can of peas, roughly 15 oz, drained well, is a reasonable match for the proportions of the other ingredients.
- Pickle quantityA dozen and a half large pickles is a great deal of pickle against two onions and a quarter pound of cheese. This makes a sharp, relish-like salad rather than a mild one. Halving the pickles gives a result closer to modern taste, or use the full amount and expect something you serve by the spoonful.
- "Sugar pickles if sour"This most likely means sweeten the mixture if you have used sour or dill pickles, adding sugar to taste. The note about sweet pickles at the end reads as the alternative: sweet pickles and no added sugar.
- "Cheese (any kind)"What is wanted is a firm cheese that dices cleanly. Mild cheddar or a young brick works; avoid anything crumbly or strongly flavoured, which will fight the pickle.
- OnionsTwo large yellow onions raw is assertive. Soaking the diced onion in cold water for ten minutes and draining takes the harsh edge off without losing the crunch.
- Dressing and restingAdd mayonnaise a few spoonfuls at a time; the drained peas and pickles release liquid and an over-dressed salad turns soupy. Chill at least an hour so the flavours settle, and drain off any pooled liquid before serving.
- YieldAs written this fills a large bowl and should serve roughly ten as a side dish, depending on how much pea is added.
Salads like this one belong to the era when a "salad" in an American cookbook rarely meant leaves. Canned peas, diced cheese and chopped pickles bound with mayonnaise made a dish that could be assembled the night before, carried to a supper and held on a table without wilting. The Adirondack name looks decorative rather than geographic; there is nothing in the ingredients that points to upstate New York. With this much pickle the result sits close to a condiment to be eaten with cold ham or roast, in the same family as a chow-chow or corn relish. The attribution note records a member's personal variation alongside the main version.