Jan here, sharing the ultimate mid-western summertime dish…
Wait a minute…maybe corn would take that honor…or grilled
burgers…or…
Oh well, we’re sticking with this one: deviled eggs.
What end of summer picnic would be complete without a dish
of deviled eggs?
One of the great things about this dish is that it’s so
versatile. As long as you have the basics – eggs, mayo and flavoring – the rest
is up to you.
First, basic deviled eggs.
Boil about 8 or 9 eggs (you’re going to be using 6 of them,
but there are always a couple that don’t peel right or something). Cool them down and peel them. Cut each egg in
half and gently pop the yolks onto a plate.
That’s right. Plate, not bowl. It’s so much easier to mash
the yolks and mix the ingredients if you use the back of a fork and mash them
on a plate.
Mash them well. Nice and crumbly.
Now add a couple tablespoons mayonnaise (or salad dressing,
if you prefer), onion, about a teaspoon of mustard, salt and pepper. Mix that
all up together (add more mayo if it’s too dry), and then fill your egg halves
with the seasoned yolks.
If you have a pastry bag, use that. I don’t, so I just scoop
the stuff in with my fork.
Voila! Deviled eggs!
But now the fun part begins. This is where you can be as
creative as you want to be.
These are my Southwest Deviled Eggs. Instead of regular
mustard, I added Southwest Spicy mustard and a bit extra onion. The seasoning
on top is Chipotle Chile Pepper.
Wowsers, they were good!
Another fun spice to use is wasabi. Be judicious with it,
though – too much wasabi and the yolk mixture tastes bitter. I think I used ½ teaspoon
for six eggs.
A couple weeks ago I got together for brunch with Vonda at
her beautiful house up in the Hills. I brought the food, she supplied tea and
her back porch, and we had a wonderful girl-chat time.
The challenge? A fun one! Vonda and her husband are on the
Paleo diet. No grains, only certain fats, no refined sugar…. Not a diet I would
choose, but I can eat it for a meal or two, right?
So I made “Paleo Mayonnaise” out of coconut oil and olive
oil and used that for the mayo in the deviled eggs. From there, I used my basic
recipe, except I added garlic and parsley. Mmmmm.
There are so many ways to jazz up deviled eggs! What’s your
favorite way to make them?
Or if you don’t lean that way (my husband doesn’t – so I
have them for lunch), what is your favorite picnic food?
And let's chat about picnics. Here's one of my favorite picnic memories - lobster on the coast of Maine.
What's your favorite picnic memory?
wow I read that as 'brunch with vodka' LOL - hooo boy! got my attention for sure! :-)
ReplyDeleteI loved deviled eggs but I'm odd in that I have to scrape nearly all the 'good part' off - I like just enough to get a good taste - always been kinda iffy with yolks unless they're scrambled and even then I like extra whites added.
my fave picnic food is fried chicken - I think it's because as a kid we used to go to the park sometimes (not sure why we slacked off because it's one of my best childhood memories) but my mom would fry chicken, make homemade potato salad(loaded with russet taters, boiled eggs cup up kinda small, sweet and dill pickles diced up, and onion - salt and pepper and miracle whip and mustard..and would make the sweetest baked beans - karo syrup, bacon!, onion, pork and beans, brown sugar and a dab of mustard. my uncle worked for a company that had a small park and we'd go there sometimes - huge slide! and there were 2 other parks we liked - one had a helicopter you could climb in (didnt' take much to amuse us back in those days!)seems like another park too but that one was scary with the climbing stuff!
I guess 1974 for the picture! :-) 1972 2nd choice!
Susanna
After your list of the food your mom made for those picnics, I think I can guess why you slacked off - that sounds like a TON of work! But oh, so delicious!
DeleteAnd you're right about the parks. We didn't need much to entertain us, did we? My favorite park when I was growing up had a stream running through it - slow and shallow enough to wade in. It was a great place to go on a summer afternoon.
Your guess on the year is close - it was 1967. Ah, those were the days!
you know you're right - I never thought about it at the time or actually not until now - it was a lot of work. all that slacked a bit when she started going to nursing school/college then really stopped once we moved and she was working full-time. She seemed to like making lots of food- church dinners she'd make pretty much the same things til she got busy taking care of my dad then sick herself - a big thing of chicken spaghetti then later storebought chicken, pot of greeat northern or pintos from scratch and cornbread were her staples. picnics weren't a weekly event for us but I guess with all she had going on it was a lot!
DeleteSusanna
have to say I dont like deviled eggs. would rather just a hard boiled egg. I know here some will add some gerkin relish to the eggs (or is that to egg sandwiches.) I know it was mixed up with the egg.
ReplyDeletefavourite picnic moment, not sure. we use to go on a church picnic to the beach each year that was nice. also early spring we would have a sunday school picnic. normally to the bush somewhere normally someones farm. but plenty of space to play, explore etc often a bbq set up somewhere. Oh and lovely toilets which were often long drops.
Fun memories, Jenny! For us in the States, it seems pretty exotic to go to the bush for a picnic. It conjures up images of The Thornbirds :)
DeleteI can just see those "lovely" toilets. We went hiking on Saturday, and up in the Hills they have vault toilets - kind of like an outdoor toilet you can clean. They're...interesting.
Jan I live in a small country town 5,000 people a lot of our members use to be on the farm so would often go to a members farm. We have been to a few other picnic areas that are in the middle of the bush too.
DeleteHaha! Loved this post! When I make deviled eggs, I have to fight several of my kids to get even one. I just make them the first way, but I think I'll try your spicier version. I think hubby may really like that.
ReplyDeleteThat paleo diet sounds really hard. And sometimes I wonder if those diets really work because you can't eat ANYTHING. My friends went on the juicer diet, which was relly interesting.
Your mom's expression cracked me up!!! And I've never had lobster. I've seen it in the store and... It looks scary. So I get her face.
I think the worst thing about that whole experience was that the lobster had been alive not too long before she was expected to eat it.
DeleteSigh -- I guess I have to publicly admit that I flunk out on devil egg making. Really gross results so many times that I've given up. But I love deviled eggs and it's not something you can get many places. Now you've got me craving them so I might have to try this. The mustard -- is it the regular kind (like you put on a hot dog) or the dry, powdered kind?
ReplyDeleteI think it's the regular kind- that's the kind my mom used. my dad didn't like fancy - salt pepper dab of mustard and miracle whip and he was set. I'm not too good at making them either.
DeleteSusanna
Susanna's right - it's the regular kind. Although the powdered kind would give it a different kind of zip.
DeleteYou'll have to give the deviled eggs another try, Kav.
Oh I LOVE lobster. The best part of my daughter attending college in Maine was the annual lobster dinners.
ReplyDeleteFavorite picnics - hands down the ones I had with my daughters when they were little. We'd pack up lunch and go up to Prospect Park and picnic on the lawn. Happy memories.
Jan, my mom made deviled eggs whenever she had company. I think she sprinkled paprika on top.
I love deviled eggs! My kids are crazy for them. We had to limit them on how many they can have when we go to cover dish dinners at church after they once took 5 EACH! I was so embarrassed. They cleaned off a whole serving tray of them plus a few more off another tray! Nothing like a trio of preacher's kids who hog the deviled eggs!
ReplyDeleteI make mine like yours, Jan. Just mayo and yellow mustard, salt and pepper. With paprika on top like Mary mentioned. I've also put pickle relish in them before, too, I think (unless I'm getting that confused with potato salad). :) I've seen someone put a slice of green olive on theirs before as well. I thought that looked tasty.
I was an embarrassment too and still have to watch myself :-( at least a kid has an excuse- everyone should know those potluck dinners are tough on a kid - used to fried chicken (and the piece we were used to eating!),deviled eggs and desserts were our main staples - one of the reasons my dad insisted on buying fried chicken from the local grocery store deli for church functions - so the kids would have something to eat!
DeleteSusanna
I love deviled eggs. I always think of them in summer, but I've got a cousin who insists on bringing dozens of them to Thanksgiving dinner. I don't complain, though.
ReplyDeleteMy mom uses mayo and sweet pickle JUICE. I can't stand relish chunks in my yolks.
My sister was making them one time at Mom's and couldn't figure out what was missing. We would taste and add, taste and add. Nothing worked, so we gave up and filled the eggs. They were perfect! Turned out all that was missing was the white part.
I have had them with whites mixed into the filling. Probably what happens to all the ones that didn't peel right.
You know, Jan, sometimes it's the simple things that make us the happiest. Like deviled eggs. Love 'em. I just never think to make them. Yet whenever someone brings them to a party/function/whatever, they're the first things to get gobbled up.
ReplyDeleteI can't think of a single picnic memory. Plenty of picnics, just nothing outstanding. Sigh. Guess I'll have to correct that.
I also meant to say that most picnics in my childhood involved driving through Kentucky Fried Chicken! :)
ReplyDeletewe shifted to Church's Chicken(it was near one of the parks!)and a convenience store for drinks...aww the good 'ol days!
DeleteSusanna
I'm so glad I'm not the only deviled egg lover here...
ReplyDeleteAnother picnic memory - when our children were little I kept a ziplock bag ready with paper plates, paper cups, plastic silverware and napkins. Whenever we wanted to do a last minute picnic, I'd just make some sandwiches, make a thermos of kool-aid or lemonade, grab something for dessert and go. Lots of summertime suppers were spent at the park.... I wonder if the kids remember that?
they probably do - I remember the ones we had! wow I can't see my mom ever doing anything without intense planning :-( no spur of the moment for us or she was in a tizzy!
DeleteSusanna
Oh, that's a great tip! I have a friend who keeps a bag of cups and shovels and buckets in her car truck for when they head to the park- to play in the sand. She just keeps them in the trunk, so never forgets!
Delete