Ingredients (in order of their appearance)
12 boiled eggs
mayonaise
yellow mustard
pickles or pickle relish
spices (optional)
paprika
Deviled eggs--Devil's Food Cake, for that matter. Why are they called that? At one of our churches the terms were Church eggs and Church Cake, although Angel's Food Cake was preferred overall. Today is Rylan's first birthday party, and I am taking a relish tray (with peanutbutter and almondbutter-stuffed celery) and Grandma Shell's Deviled Eggs. This may be the last time I make Deviled Eggs, as I ruined three and a half eggwhites out of the dozen I boiled, trying to get the shells off.
Have you noticed the thin silken lining between the shell and the egg itself? This helps peel off the shell without denting the whites. Also, while cracking the shell, don't whack the eggs so hard you break them. I boiled the eggs last night, cooled them in cold water and put them back in their cardboard carton. Into the refrigerator until this morning. Not only is it easier to handle cold eggs than hot ones, but the shells peel off more easily. This is a trick of my mother's. She also said that older eggs tend to peel more easily than fresh ones. But she was talking fresh off the farm, so I'm not sure it matters with store eggs. (This is a tip that comes in handy with Easter eggs, too, but that's another story.)
Anyway, once you've got the eggs peeled (de-shelled?), cut all the eggs in half, even the pitted and scarred and broken ones. Put all the yolks into a bowl, and lay out the unbroken, unpitted egg whites on your egg plate. You may notice that while eggs are reputed to be oval (oval for ova which equals egg), in three dimensions there is a point on one end. Lay them out prettily on your tray, all pointing the same direction.
Take the 12 yolks and mash them with a fork. Uusually they won't actually mash down, but will break up into nice fluffy crumble. Into that put about three globs of real mayonaise, the kind made of eggs and not sugar (carb counters, alert!). Mix that together, and you should end up with a fairly stiff paste. Add about three small squirts of yellow mustard and mix. Slightly moister paste. Taste--do you need another squirt of mustard? Be brave.
Add your pickles. I often use pickle relish, either sweet or dill, but sometimes, like today, I'm out, so I minced two spears of kosher dill. Add to the paste and stir.
Now is the good part. Do NOT add vinegar--add the pickle liquor. Pickle liquor is a technical term I learned from summers in high school and college when I worked on the pickle lines at Heinz Company. Carefully put in a small splash of the juice from the pickle jar--it not only has vinegar, but the Heinz carefully selected spices. Now stir. The texture should be close to what you want to put into the waiting egg whites, not too goopy.
Taste again. Does it need salt? A little garlic powder? Perhaps onion salt? Be creative. But not too creative. Last time I tried Chinese Five Spice, and while the eggs all disappeared, there were (many) complaints that the eggs didn't taste "right." This is an old-timey food, and your family may cling to tradition.
At this point, you may want to add one more careful small glop of mayo and stir, and the yellow mixture should be perfect. To fill, I recommend a teaspoon and a clean finger. (I know you've been tasting.) Make the eggs artistic, and try not to get too much pickle in any one egg. If you have less than a dozen fit to be seen in public, you can use a more generous hand with the filling. Save the set-asides for your egg salad tomorrow. Admire your work.
Finally, the Paprika. Sprinkle liberally on top for pleasing color, and lay out in your egg dish. Those of us without an egg carrier will have to squash the eggs somewhat with plastic wrap to deliver them to the shindig. If you are serving these at home, you are in like Flynn. Today my egg plate is a wooden Heinz serving tray with a bed of baby spinach garnished with cherry tomatoes. That should do'er.
12 boiled eggs
mayonaise
pickles or pickle relish
spices (optional)
paprika
Deviled eggs--Devil's Food Cake, for that matter. Why are they called that? At one of our churches the terms were Church eggs and Church Cake, although Angel's Food Cake was preferred overall. Today is Rylan's first birthday party, and I am taking a relish tray (with peanutbutter and almondbutter-stuffed celery) and Grandma Shell's Deviled Eggs. This may be the last time I make Deviled Eggs, as I ruined three and a half eggwhites out of the dozen I boiled, trying to get the shells off.
Have you noticed the thin silken lining between the shell and the egg itself? This helps peel off the shell without denting the whites. Also, while cracking the shell, don't whack the eggs so hard you break them. I boiled the eggs last night, cooled them in cold water and put them back in their cardboard carton. Into the refrigerator until this morning. Not only is it easier to handle cold eggs than hot ones, but the shells peel off more easily. This is a trick of my mother's. She also said that older eggs tend to peel more easily than fresh ones. But she was talking fresh off the farm, so I'm not sure it matters with store eggs. (This is a tip that comes in handy with Easter eggs, too, but that's another story.)
Anyway, once you've got the eggs peeled (de-shelled?), cut all the eggs in half, even the pitted and scarred and broken ones. Put all the yolks into a bowl, and lay out the unbroken, unpitted egg whites on your egg plate. You may notice that while eggs are reputed to be oval (oval for ova which equals egg), in three dimensions there is a point on one end. Lay them out prettily on your tray, all pointing the same direction.
Take the 12 yolks and mash them with a fork. Uusually they won't actually mash down, but will break up into nice fluffy crumble. Into that put about three globs of real mayonaise, the kind made of eggs and not sugar (carb counters, alert!). Mix that together, and you should end up with a fairly stiff paste. Add about three small squirts of yellow mustard and mix. Slightly moister paste. Taste--do you need another squirt of mustard? Be brave.
Add your pickles. I often use pickle relish, either sweet or dill, but sometimes, like today, I'm out, so I minced two spears of kosher dill. Add to the paste and stir.
Now is the good part. Do NOT add vinegar--add the pickle liquor. Pickle liquor is a technical term I learned from summers in high school and college when I worked on the pickle lines at Heinz Company. Carefully put in a small splash of the juice from the pickle jar--it not only has vinegar, but the Heinz carefully selected spices. Now stir. The texture should be close to what you want to put into the waiting egg whites, not too goopy.
Taste again. Does it need salt? A little garlic powder? Perhaps onion salt? Be creative. But not too creative. Last time I tried Chinese Five Spice, and while the eggs all disappeared, there were (many) complaints that the eggs didn't taste "right." This is an old-timey food, and your family may cling to tradition.
At this point, you may want to add one more careful small glop of mayo and stir, and the yellow mixture should be perfect. To fill, I recommend a teaspoon and a clean finger. (I know you've been tasting.) Make the eggs artistic, and try not to get too much pickle in any one egg. If you have less than a dozen fit to be seen in public, you can use a more generous hand with the filling. Save the set-asides for your egg salad tomorrow. Admire your work.
Finally, the Paprika. Sprinkle liberally on top for pleasing color, and lay out in your egg dish. Those of us without an egg carrier will have to squash the eggs somewhat with plastic wrap to deliver them to the shindig. If you are serving these at home, you are in like Flynn. Today my egg plate is a wooden Heinz serving tray with a bed of baby spinach garnished with cherry tomatoes. That should do'er.