How to make deviled eggs

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Posted by Lydia (The Perfect Pantry)


‘Tis the season for eggs, whether painted, dyed, tea-stained, or hidden on the lawn. While you’re having fun decorating your eggs, don’t forget to make some to eat, too.

Kids love deviled eggs, and by learning to make them, they learn how to hard cook an egg, peel it, create a filling with their own choice of embellishments, and use a pastry bag to make their egg beautiful.


How to hard boil (or hard cook) an egg

• Start with very fresh eggs, preferably from a farm stand.
• Place eggs in a heavy, flat-bottom pan, and cover with one inch of cold water.
• Place pan over high heat, and bring to a boil.
• Just when the water comes to a rolling boil, remove pan from heat, cover, and let sit for 15 minutes.
• Your eggs are ready!

To peel an egg: Drain the water from the pot, and gently agitate the eggs in the pot to crack the shells all over. Then, under running cold water, peel each egg, dry on a clean dish towel, and set aside or refrigerate until ready to use.


Deviled eggs


First, a basic version:

6 hard boiled eggs, peeled, cut in half lengthwise, yolks mashed in a bowl
2 Tbsp mayonnaise
2 tsp yellow mustard
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
3/4 tsp Old Bay seasoning
1 tsp distilled white or cider vinegar
1/4 tsp black pepper
Salt to taste (you won’t need much, if any)
Paprika or the thin tops of chives, for garnish

In a small bowl, combine the mashed yolks with the mayo and mustard. Stir in the Worcestershire, Old Bay, vinegar and pepper. Add salt if you need it.

Slice a tiny bit off the outside of the white egg halves, so they'll sit flat on the platter. Fill the whites evenly with the mixture (with a pastry bag, which makes them look pretty, or with a spoon), and sprinkle a tiny bit of paprika on each for garnish. If you wish, stick a small piece of chive or two on the top!

Now, for variations:

1. Mix in some avocado with the egg yolks and mayo.
2. Mix in some sour cream with the yolks.
3. Mix in some chopped tomato, or parsley, or dill.
4. Mix in some dried herbs.
5. Mix in some dry onion soup mix.

In other words, have fun!





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This Post was written by Lydia from The Perfect Pantry

12 comments:

Mine fav..
with chopped tomato ,dill and paprika ,deviled egg is sure a winner...
hugs and smiles
jaya

Jaya M said...
March 14, 2008 at 5:34:00 AM GMT+1  

Thanks for the great writeup Lydia:)

Mansi said...
March 14, 2008 at 5:49:00 AM GMT+1  

Lydia, deviled eggs are a must when I have my brunch get together. I love some of your ideas and I think the next time I will make them with Soeren. Thanks!

Meeta K. Wolff said...
March 14, 2008 at 7:48:00 AM GMT+1  

I enjoy making devilled eggs too! They are lovely when the filling is piped into nice patterns -perfect food for a snack and full of goodness for the kids too! great article Lydia!

Dharm said...
March 14, 2008 at 9:12:00 AM GMT+1  

Jaya, I love that deviled eggs can be completely different from one time to the next, and from one cook to the next. When my herb garden is abundant, I love to use dill, parsley, thyme or chives.

Mansi Desai, thank you.

Meeta, I'm always amazed at how kids take to pastry bags so easily. They don't get caught up in the "right" way to do it -- they just squeeze, and squiggly things come out, and they love it! They love the decorating, too. I'm sure Soeren will be a star!

Dharm, we don't ever outgrow our love for deviled eggs, do we?!

March 14, 2008 at 1:10:00 PM GMT+1  

I love the little tip of cutting a sliver off the egg white to have it sit flat...very clever!
I remember making a couple dozen devilled eggs for a party. I mixed sauteed onions and tomatoes, mashed yolks and mayo, garam masala to make "Indian" devilled eggs topped with a sprig of cilantro and they disappeared within minutes.
I have one question: often, the whites stick to the shell and the eggs are hard to peel. Have you ever had this happen?

Nupur said...
March 14, 2008 at 10:52:00 PM GMT+1  

Nupur, that happens to everyone. I always boil extra eggs, just in case, and the ones that don't peel well go right into egg salad! Your Indian-flavored deviled eggs sound delicious; I'll definitely borrow that idea.

March 15, 2008 at 1:00:00 AM GMT+1  

Hey Meg!
Cool site, I love it! I did not mean to dis macrobiotics.. it just did not work for me. However, I do still use some of the components of it. I think that it does work for a lot of folks and it is a million times better than SAD!
Thanks for your comment,
come see my blog
debbiedoesraw.blogspot.com
deb

Debbie Young said...
March 15, 2008 at 1:44:00 AM GMT+1  

the eggs so special one..do have a great weekend!

Hazel said...
March 15, 2008 at 5:23:00 AM GMT+1  

I love deviled eggs-- they're such a classic. I like the idea of mixing avocado into the yolk mixture, too!

Anonymous said...
March 16, 2008 at 10:59:00 PM GMT+1  

Hazel, Ann: thanks! I think a bit of mustard or lemon juice will help keep the avocado green, and it makes the egg filling oh-so-creamy. And kids who often say "yuck" to avocado will eat it in deviled eggs!

March 18, 2008 at 12:22:00 PM GMT+1  

the easiest way to peel a hard boiled egg is to crack the shell gently and peel it under running water. makes it a whole lot easier. hope this is useful

xue said...
April 13, 2008 at 5:08:00 PM GMT+2  

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