Tag Archives: deviled eggs

Orange Eggs

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Sometimes it takes a couple tries before a recipes for deviled eggs turns out the way I want it to. This recipe is based on one I originally found in a cookbook. It was initially altered based on the ingredients I had on hand. For instance, the original recipe called for white wine vinegar, and I only had white wine. The original recipe called for canned chipotles, and the best I could do at the time was a mix of smoked paprika and cayenne pepper. The first effort was okay, but something was missing, so I redoubled my efforts and tried again. The second time I was much pleased. I imagine my version would be good with chopped, canned chipotles as well, so in the spirit of experimentation, feel free to use whatever you have on hand.

Orange EggsSARAH’S ORANGE EGGS

6 hard-boiled eggs, peeled
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon sour cream
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 tablespoon grated orange zest (more or less to taste)
dash of cayenne pepper, or more to taste
salt or pepper to taste
more paprika for garnish

Halve the eggs and remove the yolks. Combine the yolks, mayo, sour cream, lemon juice, mustard, paprika, orange zest and cayenne pepper in a small bowl with egg beaters until smooth. Spoon into egg white halves, chill and serve.

What’s good about these eggs is that they aren’t sweet, like you might expect. The orange zest adds orange flavor without the sugar of orange juice. Unless you add a lot of cayenne pepper, then these taste more or less like a classic deviled egg with a something extra. I never really measure my zest, I just grate it into the bowl until it looks about right, so feel free to use more or less zest to suit your tastes. The important element I discovered here was the lemon juice. The first round of these I tried making didn’t have enough depth; the use of lemon juice instead of vinegar or wine enhances the citrus flavor without distracting from the character of orange. I suppose regular paprika could be used instead of smoked, but I’m generally a fan of a little smokey flavor, and so I would recommend it if you have it. Otherwise, these eggs are highly recommended for anyone looking for a slight twist on the classic egg.

Pesto Parmesan Eggs

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As my deviled egg experimentation continues, I decided to try a souped-up and much changed version of a recipe for pesto deviled eggs I found in a cookbook. The recipe I found was not agreeable in a number of ways. First of all, it called for a sizable dose of sun-dried tomatoes. Now, I love sun-dried tomatoes, but with a tablespoon and a half, that makes it Sun-dried Tomato Eggs, not Pesto Eggs. Now, sun-dried tomato eggs sounds like a very good idea, one that I will most certainly try making one day, but if I’m going to make pesto eggs, I’m going to let the pesto be the main attraction.

Pesto Parmesan EggThe other thing I didn’t like about the recipe I had on hand is that it was too simple. Not enough ingredients. Clearly this recipe was much too reliant on the sun-dried tomatoes, so I would have to make some major additions and substitutions. The result was as follows:

SARAH’S PESTO PARMESAN EGGS

6 hard-boiled eggs, peeled
1/4 cup sour cream
1/8 to 1/4 cup grated or shredded Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons prepared pesto
1/4 teaspoon minced garlic or garlic powder
1 tablespoon crumbled bacon or real bacon bits
1 tablespoon pine nuts or slivered blanched almonds
8 to 10 leaves fresh basil
1 teaspoon white wine or lemon juice.
black pepper and/or red pepper to taste

Cut eggs in half length-wise and scoop out the yolks. In a small bowl or container, combine yolks, sour cream, cheese, pesto, garlic, bacon bits, nuts, basil, wine and pepper with electric beaters. Once the yolk mixture is combined, spoon the mixture into the yolk halves and chill for at least two hours before serving.

I was actually quite pleasantly surprised with how these eggs turned out. Usually I give a recipe a couple tries before I’m happy enough with it to post online, but these came out swimmingly the first time. Next time I make them I’ll try doing just a couple things differently. First, I didn’t chop the fresh basil before I added it. I was feeling lazy and decided just to pick some from my window plant, wash it and toss it in. Some of it got torn up in the beaters, but a lot of the leaves were left whole. Next time I’ll chop the basil a bit before I toss it in. Next, I want to try using lemon juice instead of wine. This recipe has a distinct lack of acidic ingredients, which help keep the eggs looking and tasting fresh. Most deviled egg recipes include mayo and/or prepared mustard, both of which have vinegar already in them. The original recipe didn’t even have the white wine; I added that because I thought it could use some form of acidic preservative and I was afraid the lemon juice might clash with the dairy elements. The eggs still tasted fine a day later, but they started to get a little discolored around the edges. Next time I’ll try lemon juice to see if it will keep them fresher looking longer. White wine vinegar might be feasible as well, but I didn’t have any on hand. The bacon could, of course, be omitted for vegetarians.

Loaded Eggs and Muenster Fondue

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I recently tried two variations on favorite recipes, each with moderate success. The first was a fairly traditional variation on deviled eggs, and the second was the substitution of a new cheese in my cookie-cutter fondue recipe.

I decided to make a batch of deviled eggs to take in for my co-workers at the studio this week. I know that we have a collection of varied tastes, and so I wasn’t sure if one of the more exotic deviled eggs I have in the works would appeal to them (e.g. tuna wasabi, citrus chipotle) so I tried a variation on one of the “loaded eggs” (i.e. a la “loaded baked potato”) recipes I found online:

Loaded Deviled EggsSARAH’S LOADED EGGS

6 hard-boiled eggs
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon real bacon bits
1/3 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon white vinegar, or lemon juice
1 green onion, sliced thin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
extra paprika for garnish

Cut eggs in half length-wise and scoop out the yolks. In a small bowl or container, combine yolks, mayo, sour cream, bacon bits, cheese, mustard, vinegar, green onions, and spices. Once the yolk mixture is combined, spoon the mixture into the yolk halves and chill for at least two hours before serving.

While this is not my very favorite deviled egg recipe, it really turned out as well as it could, given the mundane ingredients. The amount of cheese can certainly be increased (decreasing will make the mixture too liquid), and the spices can be turned up and down as you like. Real bacon could also be used in lieu of canned bacon bits (which I did for the sake of ease). Next time I think I’ll use lemon juice instead of vinegar. I used the vinegar because I was concerned that the citrus would clash with the cheese and sour cream, but I generally like to avoid adding more vinegar to dishes when I can (the mayo and mustard will probably already have some vinegar in them), the notable exception being something that features vinegar, like a vindaloo. I think that the lemon juice would give it a fresher burst (albeit less traditional) of flavor.

Muenster FondueNext up was the Muenster cheese fondue. I stopped by the Penn Hills Giant Eagle on my way home from work to find creative inspiration among the offerings of the cheese counter. I wanted to pick up a cheese for my fondue that I hadn’t tried before… and yet, I didn’t want to spend a ludicrous amount of money. Unfortunately there is no place better for a boring, over-priced cheese selection than a mid-sized Giant Eagle. After browsing the selection of pre-packaged $6.99 cheeses, I ended up the Helluva Good aisle. The only reasonable cheese (I wasn’t excited at the prospect of colby-jack fondue) I found that I hadn’t tried yet in a fondue was muenster, and so at $2.50, it went in my basket. The result was muenster fondue:

MUENSTER FONDUE

1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon minced garlic
1 to 1 1/2 cups half n’ half or light cream
1 (8oz) package of cream cheese
8oz block of muenster cheese, cubed
4oz sharp white cheddar, cubed
dash or two of white pepper (optional)
1 to 1 1/2 cups white wine or dry sherry
1 tablespoon cornstarch (optional)
bread cubes or vegetables for dipping

Combine the garlic, cream, cream cheese, muenster cheese, cheddar and the pepper in a medium saucepan. Melt over medium-low heat, whisking frequently until the cheeses are melted and well combined. If cheese does not melt smoothly, use an immersion blender to smooth is out. Whisk in the white wine until combined. If the fondue is too runny for your taste, then mix the cornstarch with a bit of additional wine (just enough to dissolve it) and then whisk it into the fondue, heating until it thickens. Serve with bread and/or vegetables.

The muenster fondue turned out, like the eggs, as well as could truly be expected. Muenster is not a terribly strong cheese and so it did not stand out from the base cheeses with much audacity. In fact, it was probably the first time in all of my fondue experiments that I could distinctly taste the white cheddar. All in all, it was tasty but unremarkable. Unless I’m cooking for a muenster aficionado, I’ll likely opt for one of my standbys (gorgonzola or swiss) in the future.

The New Deviled Egg Craze

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Anyone who has known me for a span longer than two years has seen me get on “kicks,” preoccupations of various types that turn into hobbies, habits or regular entries in my repertoire of recipes. My latest cooking craze is deviled eggs.

Salmon Eggs before the pastry bag arrivedIt started a few weeks ago when I was hosting a small cocktail party built primarily around the showcasing of two cheese fondues (another of my culinary kicks). I wanted to feature something else besides just fondue on my hors d’oeuvres menu, but I didn’t want to spend much additional money (since I am generally poor and had already spent my weekly “entertainment budget” on the sum of food and booze). Most easy hors d’oeuvres that came immediately to mind were cheese-based spreads and dips, both of which would be silly accompaniments to fondue. Also, I wanted something finger-food-ish, since the fondue would already require much dipping. Any vegetable-based appetizers I found seemed either too complex for a last minute addition or two expensive (fresh vegetables are not cheap, so even something as simple as crudites was off my list).

At long last I discovered a fairly standard deviled eggs recipe when browsing Food.com. I had never really liked hard-boiled eggs because of the predominance of the egg white; on rare occasions when I do have breakfast eggs, I get them sunny-side up, dip bread in the yolks and leave the cooked whites untouched. But I figured, I didn’t really have to eat them, did I? I was embellishing my menu for the sake of my guests, anyway. I would be happy enough making do with fondue alone, and deviled eggs met my other criteria of being a finger food and being cheap (eggs are under $2 a dozen and I had most of the other ingredients for deviled eggs in my cupboards already)

As with most recipes, however, I’m usually not satisfied just to make the “standard” recipe, especially when a classic food seems ripe for experimentation. I delved further into the online recipe archives before finding two varieties of deviled eggs that seemed promising. The first was a recipe for seafood eggs that gave me a starting place, but ended up largely altered from the original.

Snapware Stackable Egg ContainerSARAH’S SEAFOOD DEVILED EGGS

12 hard-boiled eggs, shelled
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground white pepper
1/2 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning
1 can crabmeat or salmon, drained and flaked
1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives or green onion
paprika, for sprinkling

Cut eggs in half legnth-wise and scoop out the yolks. In a small bowl or container (I use 3 cup measuring cup), combine yolks, mayo, lemon juice, mustard, pepper, Old Bay, fish and chives. I like to use electric egg beaters because they combine the yolk mixture easily and thoroughly without pulverizing the texture of the fish or eliminating the color flecks of the chives like a food processor or immersion blender would. Once the yolk mixture is combined, spoon the mixture into the yolk halves and chill for at least two hours before serving.

I have made the above recipe twice now, once with crabmeat and once with salmon, and it turned out delicious each time. What I especially like about this recipe is the fact that it produces enough filling really to load up the egg. Since the egg white is my least favorite part (I regard it as something of a protein-rich cracker, i.e. merely a means of yummy yolk delivery), the more of it heaped with filling, the better.

Mango Curry Eggs from the pastry bagThe second deviled egg recipe I tried was the biggest hit with my guests that night, and I cannot deny that it was mighty tasty. This recipe was also a bit altered from the original to suit my aesthetics.

SARAH’S MANGO CURRY DEVILED EGGS

6 hard-boiled eggs, shelled
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon mango chutney
1 tablespoon green onions or chives, minced
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon garam masala
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Cut eggs in half length-wise and scoop out the yolks. In a small bowl or container, combine yolks, mayo, mango chutney, green onions, lemon juice, and spices. Once the yolk mixture is combined, spoon the mixture into the yolk halves and chill for at least two hours before serving.

As I found myself having increasing success with deviled egg recipes, and thus found myself making the recipes more frequently, two points of interest arose. The first was logistical. Shelled hard-boiled eggs are slippery characters, and in my first attempts to transport deviled eggs (even just from the refrigerator to the table, but also in the car to other locales) I discovered how easily the finished deviled egg will tip, depositing filling on its neighbor or on the bottom or sides of its container.

Pastry BagThe logical recourse was, of course, to find a plate or container specifically designed for the purpose of corralling deviled eggs. Seems like a simple enough endeavor, but it turns out that finding a deviled egg tray to suit all my needs was a taller order than I imagined. First of all, most of the trays I found were serving plates… all well and good for the table, but without a lid they did me no good (the deviled egg filling will get dry if stored uncovered in the refrigerator). Most of the containers with deviled egg trays and lids were either too cheap (i.e. cheaply made with a dozen bad reviews on Amazon) or too expensive ($40, really? For a plastic deviled egg tray?)

After much investigation I stumbled upon the Snapware Egg-tainer. Not only is it a stackable tupperware-style container designed for deviled egg transportation and storage, but the indented egg trays are plain white and removable so to be attractive for serving on a table that’s a bit classier than a tupperware spread. Unfortunately Amazon failed me on this one. While I did find it on Amazon, it was only offered by third party sellers, and thus saddled with sizable shipping costs. After some further research I found that it was available in-store at my local Bed, Bath and Beyond for $8.99 (two stacked trays for 12 eggs each). So far I’m getting a lot of use out of my trays, and thinking I may have to get another set sometime soon.

Eggs from the pastry bagThe second point of interest as I delved further into deviled egg cookery was aesthetic, namely that most pictures of deviled eggs in cookbooks feature yolks that have been squeezed out through the starred tip of a pastry bag. To give my eggs a professional appearance, I decided to invest in a pastry bag and tip set. My pastry bag research left me a bit confused as to whether I would need a large or small bag, and whether I would need a coupler attachment. In the end I decided on the Ateco Extra Wide Pastry Decorating Tip Set plus a Large Tip Coupler. Unfortunately the tip coupler did not come with instructions on how to install it on the pastry bag, so I decided to try the bag once without it. The tip was difficult to keep in place, so the next time around I decided to use the coupler. To the best of my assessment the only way to install the coupler would be to cut off a small part of the bag; I did and it seems to hold in place well enough (though I do have to remove the coupler for cleaning). The pastry bag allowed me easily to make stylish deviled eggs, but the unfortunate part of the bag is that it’s difficult to get all the filling out in the end. With my curried egg recipe that doesn’t have much extra bulk, this means that I’m scrambling for filling by the time I get to the last eggs. It’s worth making the more attractive, though.

Check back soon as my adventures in deviled eggs continue.