Springtime DEVILED EGGS
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Ingredients:
6 large eggs
5 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 Tablespoon sweet pickle relish, or just the juice, or to taste 1 teaspoon snipped fresh chives or minced parsley
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard, or more to taste
1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt, or to taste
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 to 2 dashes Tabasco sauce or a pinch cayenne, optional
snipped fresh chives or minced parsley, and a sprinkle of paprika for garnish
Make the deviled eggs:
Bring the eggs to room temperature, either by taking out a few hours before or by placing in lukewarm water for 30 minutes. Bring a medium size saucepan half-filled with water to a boil. Gently lower the eggs into the boiling water and lower the heat to a simmer. Cook for 10 minutes. Drain and refill with cold water once or twice to stop the cooking and cool them slightly.
Place a lid over the pot and shake the eggs vigorously until there are little cracks all over the eggs. Alternatively, you can crack them by hand. Peel them under running water. Cool in the refrigerator, covering loosely, for at least 30 minutes.
Halve the eggs lengthwise, and carefully scoop out yolks. If you don't have a deviled egg plate, cut a thin sliver off the bottom of each half to make them stand up straight.
Place the yolks in a small bowl, and mash with a fork. Add the mayonnaise, pickle relish or juice, mustard, salt, pepper, snipped chives or parsley and Tabasco if using. Gently stir until thoroughly combined.
Using a pastry bag, ziploc bag with an half inch ccorner cut off or a spoon, fill each egg white shell with 2-3 teaspoons of the egg-yolk mixture. If you like, lightly sprinkle each top with paprika, and garnish with snipped chives or minced parsley.
Makes 8-12 halves, depending on how much filling you use (can easily be doubled or tripled). YUM!
LESSONS Learned:
1. Fresh eggs or not? Probably best to use older eggs, to encourage easier peeling.
2. Use room temperature eggs, because they are less likely to crack when they hit the hot water. And make sure to gently lower them into the boiling water.
3. Make sure that when you shake the cooked eggs in the pot that you end up with a lot of small cracks all over them before you peel. 4. If you don't have a fancy deviled egg plate with wells to hold each, cut a thin sliver of the egg white off the bottom to help them stand straight on your platter.
5. The easiest way to fill the egg white halves is with a piping bag. But it's not necessary to have one. You can easily create a piping bag by using a ziploc bag. Just fill with the yolk mixture, cut 1/2" off of one of the corners and squeeze in a circular pattern.
6. I like them sweeter, so sometimes I'll add about 1 Tablespoon sweet gherkin pickle juice or sweet pickle relish to the yolk mixture.