Saturday, November 26, 2011

Devilishly Delicious - Grandma's Deviled Eggs

There are many, many, many recipes for Deviled Eggs.  In fact, I have about 7 different iterations in my repertoire that I have made for various occasions.  (Tarragon Mustard is REALLY good) But 'tis the season for celebrating family foods.  Thus I am presenting to you, one of our Thanksgiving staples....   Grandma's recipe for deviled eggs.  (Yes, I am aware that they kind of look like eyes)  LOL  But they are still tasty.

Grandma's Deviled Eggs

As many large Eggs as you are willing to boil.....
Kosher Salt
Black Pepper
Best Foods (Hellman's) Sandwich Spread
Sweet Paprika
Manzanilla Green Olives (the little ones)

First you need to boil and peel eggs... This, in and of itself, can be a pain in the proverbial booty.
This is how I boil eggs to ensure that a) they peel correctly without the membrane sticking and b) that I don't end up with green sulfurous yolks.

Place eggs in a stock pot and cover with cold water.

Place over medium-high flame and bring to a boil.

Cover and remove from the flame, letting them sit in the hot water for 10 minutes. (only 10 minutes)

While they are hangin' out in the hot water it is time to prepare an ice bath.

Using a spider or a slotted spoon, move the eggs from the hot water to the ice bath.  This will shock the eggs and do two things...

It will stop the cooking immediately (this is good in 2 respects as it ensures that your whites will not be rubbery and your yolks will not turn green with sulfur compounds)

It shocks the interior membrane between the shell and the white, making releasing of the shell a much more pleasant eggs-perience. :)

Once the eggs have completely chilled, it's time to crack and peel.  I personally am a tap and roll kind of guy.  Meaning, I tap them on the counter, all the way around the egg, then kind of roll it with a little pressure to break the shell into tiny bits.

Once I start peeling, because the shocked membrane adheres to the shell and not the white, I usually find that most of the shell comes off in 1 piece.

Continue in this way until you have a whole slew of beautifully peels eggs.
Now the fun part.
When it comes time to split the eggs in half, I grab the sharpest knife I own...  My filleting knife. (with an edge as fine as frog hair)

Slice each egg down the center, lengthwise, and pop the yolks out into a bowl and set the whites in an "deviled egg" container, or on a plate. (I forgot to shake the eggs and center the yolks before boiling)

Once you have halved all the eggs and removed all the yolks, go ahead and smash the yolks with a fork into a fine "meal".

Now it's time to add the secret ingredient... Best Foods sandwich spread (it saves a step, cause the pickle relish is already in it)

This is the bad part, there is no set amount... But to give you a ball park figure, I boiled 19 eggs and used 1/2 of the 15 oz jar.

Mix everything together well along with Kosher Salt and Black pepper, then transfer the filling to a pastry bag fitted with a star tip.

Fill each egg....

Sprinkle with Sweet Paprika

Slice manzanilla green olives in half.

Top each egg with a green olive half.

Voila!

Mangia!!
~~

2 comments:

Patti T. said...

Love the olives on top, our family likes the eggs a little spicier, we add horseradish and mustard powder. I love you recipe also.

Shane T. Wingerd said...

Yum! You had me at horseradish!