Deviled eggs

 

I love deviled eggs.  I remember as a kid I would eat them again and again.  Every time I was at a picnic, I hoped that someone brought deviled eggs.  Every potluck at church, I hoped someone brought deviled eggs.  I can eat a ton of these .... maybe not literally, but it sure seems so.  There are so many different recipes for these, some simple and some complicated.  I prefer a simple list of ingredients which are balanced just right for my taste.

I boil a dozen eggs.  When I do this, I always use a quart-sized saucepan, covering the eggs completely with water.  Then they go on the stovetop on high heat.  I keep an eye on them and when the water starts to boil, I turn it down to something between medium and medium-high heat, keeping the water at a gentle boil.  If the boil is too rough, the eggs get tossed around a lot more and are much more likely to crack while boiling, sending bits of egg white streaming out from the shell into the water.  Once the water is boiling, I set the timer for 8 minutes.  Some like to put the eggs into water that is already boiling.  I like to slowly warm the eggs with the water, and then start timing as soon as the boiling bubbles are ... bubbling.

Once that timer goes off, I immediately remove the pan from the heat, and then remove the eggs with a slotted spoon from the hot water, putting them into another large bowl.  Then I let the bowl sit out for a long time, cooling down the eggs until they are just barely warm.  Only then are they put into the fridge to chill.  (Note:  It always seems to me that the eggs are easier to peel if they are allowed to slowly cool down at room temperature.)  (Another note:  It always seems to me that if older eggs are used, they are easier to peel as well.  The reason for that I will talk about it another post about eggs in the future.)

After they have chilled for a couple hours, I peel them under running hot water.  (Yet another note:  This also seems to make it easier to peel the eggs without damaging the appearance of the boiled eggs.)  Then I slice them in half down the long axis, from narrow end to broad end.  I carefully remove the yolks, tossing them into a bowl, and place the egg white halves in a container with sides that rise higher than the eggs will be once filling has been added.  These higher sides make it easier to cover the finished eggs with plastic wrap as they chill in the fridge without compressing the beautiful fillings.

I grab a fork and start breaking up the egg yolks next.  Then Miracle Whip (not mayonnaise which is often used) is added, honey Dijon mustard is added, and finally sweet relish is added, along with a pinch of salt and course-ground pepper.  The key thing to remember is the balance of flavors.  Find a balance you like and stick with it .... unless, that it, you feel like experimenting every time you make them.

All of that is mixed thoroughly and then adjusted with more Miracle Whip and mustard and relish if necessary.  The balance always needs to be tweaked just a bit because the volume of ground up egg yolks is always a bit different since not every large egg is exactly the same size.  All of this is put into a pastry bag with a tip that I prefer to use, one that is relatively large and makes it easier to fill the egg white bases quickly and easily without clogging up due to the relish which is in the filling mixture.

Then I fill each of the egg white bases with a generous amount of the mixture before sprinkling paprika over the top of every egg.

When everything has been completed, we have these beautiful flavorful deviled eggs.  I like to let them chill in the fridge for a while, even overnight.  If you eat one right away after assembling, it tastes great.  But let them sit a bit to let the flavors meld and intensify as they chill, and they taste even better, in my opinion.

My deviled eggs today have just gone into the fridge for chilling.  I plan on pulling some out to eat in a few hours.  I'll have to exercise a lot of willpower in order not to eat too many.

Have a great week, everone!