Today’s delicious dish – Deviled Eggs
When I was growing up, we only had deviled eggs after Easter. We usually made 3 dozen hard-boiled eggs to decorate for Easter (5 kids in the family), and although we ate them plain and also made egg salad, at some point we had to get serious about getting them eaten. It is amazing how deviled eggs disappear – the same kid who struggles to eat a hard-boiled egg will devour 6 deviled egg halves with no problem.
I love deviled eggs, and will eat them any time of year. They are great at parties and potlucks, and make a great breakfast, lunch, or appetizer. In cooking, to “devil” a food is to make it hot – by heating it or by spicing it up, or both. You will find a wide variety of approaches to deviled eggs in cookbooks and online. People put all kinds of interesting ingredients into the filling of deviled eggs, and people tend to be passionate about their version.
This recipe makes a very basic deviled egg, with a moderate level of spice and a nice blend of flavors. If you like them spicier, use more horseradish or more Tabasco sauce. If you want them very mild, omit the Tabasco.
The instructions below tell you how to steam your hard-cooked eggs. This is my favorite way to make hard-cooked eggs. The steam cooks the eggs evenly without overcooking, and they aren’t bouncing around in boiling water, so they don’t crack and leak. If you don’t want to steam them, or if you don’t have a way to steam them, feel free to boil them.
Cream-style horseradish comes in regular and extra-hot varieties. I suggest sticking with the regular. Cream-style horseradish is a bit expensive, but it is great to have around and keeps a long time in the refrigerator. I use horseradish in egg salad, tuna salad, homemade salad dressings, in cream sauce for roast beef, and in homemade cocktail sauce for seafood. Horseradish might be an acquired taste, so it’s worth trying.
When you pipe the filling into the egg white halves, don’t pile it up high at first. Get some in all the egg whites, and then you can go back and add if you still have filling. If you had any disasters while peeling the eggs, you may not have 24 good egg white halves to work with. In this case, you will have plenty of filling, so pile it up high for show.
Deviled Eggs
- 1 dozen (12) large eggs
- 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon prepared cream-style horseradish
- 2 Tablespoons sour cream
- 1/3 cup prepared mayonnaise
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon ground mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon paprika
- 2 drops Tabasco sauce
Bring a pot of water (about 2 inches in bottom of pot) to a boil. Put eggs in steamer basket and set it over boiling water. Turn heat down to a gentle boil and cover pot. Steam eggs for 13 minutes, adjusting heat as necessary to keep the water at a gentle boil. Remove the pot from the heat and take off the cover. Let stand for 2 minutes. Using tongs or a large spoon, place cooked eggs into a large bowl of water and ice cubes. Let stand for 10 minutes.
Crack shells and peel hard-cooked eggs, taking care not to break or damage eggs. Slice in half lengthwise and carefully separate yolks from whites. Set egg white halves on paper towel or clean dish towel to drain and dry.
Place yolks in small mixing bowl. Add vinegar, horseradish, and sour cream to cooked egg yolks. Mash together until smooth. Add mayonnaise and seasonings and combine well to make a smooth mixture.
Arrange egg whites on a flat serving platter. Scoop egg yolk mixture into a zip top bag. Snip off a corner of bag and use it to pipe filling into egg white wells. Cover and keep refrigerated until serving.
Makes 24 deviled eggs.
Nutritional information (per deviled egg): 58 calories, 5 grams fat, 1 gram saturated fat, 3 grams protein, 0 grams carbohydrate, 0 grams sugars, 0 grams fiber, 95 milligrams cholesterol, 163 milligrams sodium
Cost per serving: 10 cents
Preparation time: 30 minutes
What happens next?
Deviled eggs will keep for 5 days in the refrigerator. Don’t freeze them – the texture will be weird and they will get soggy. Deviled eggs make an amazing snack or light meal, and might be extra-attractive to anyone following a low-carbohydrate diet, as they have no carbohydrates or sugars. Leftovers can be chopped up and made into egg salad by adding a bit more mayonnaise and seasoning to taste.
Even better, save 6 pieces (the equivalent of 3 whole hard-cooked eggs) to use in a tasty and savory Deviled Potato Salad.
Another day’s delicious dish – Deviled Potato Salad
Here, Deviled Eggs are deconstructed; the tasty filling is scooped out and combined with other ingredients to make a silky, creamy, savory dressing, and the whites are chopped and added to cooked potatoes and celery. Be sure to let this Deviled Potato Salad chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour, to allow the flavors to blend and the dressing to soak into the potatoes.
If you don’t have 6 Deviled Egg halves saved, you can still make this recipe. Just hard cook 3 eggs, cool them, then separate the whites and yolks. Smash up the yolks with a teaspoon of vinegar and a Tablespoon of mayonnaise, and you will be ready to proceed with the recipe.
Deviled Potato Salad
- 5 medium potatoes (about 2 pounds)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 6 Deviled Egg halves
- 4 stalks celery
- 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon prepared cream-style horseradish
- 2 Tablespoons prepared yellow mustard
- 1/2 cup prepared mayonnaise
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon celery salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1 dash cayenne pepper
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. While water boils, peel potatoes and dice into medium cubes (approximately 3/4” dice). You should have about 4 1/2 cups of potato cubes. Add salt and potato cubes to boiling water and allow the mixture to return to boiling. Boil potato cubes until just tender, about 8 minutes. Drain completely and spread on a sheet pan or cookie sheet to cool for 20 minutes.
Scoop filling from deviled eggs and place in medium mixing bowl.
Dice cooked egg whites into small cubes. You should have about 2/3 cup diced egg whites.
Trim celery, then mince it. You should have about 1 cup minced celery.
Put cooled potatoes, diced egg whites, and minced celery in salad bowl.
To make dressing, combine deviled egg filling, vinegar, horseradish, mustard, mayonnaise, sour cream, and seasonings. Whisk together to make a very smooth dressing. Add dressing to ingredients in salad bowl and mix gently. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
Makes 8 servings, each about 2/3 cup
Nutritional information (per serving): 249 calories, 17 grams fat, 4 grams saturated fat, 4 grams protein, 20 grams carbohydrate, 2 grams sugars, 1 gram fiber, 83 milligrams cholesterol, 635 milligrams sodium
Cost per serving: 58 cents
Preparation time: 1 hour
Chilling time: 1 hour
The Leftover Guru 