Deviled Eggs - a Summer Favorite

by Jan Drexler

I try not to talk too much about my Instant Pot here at the Cafe...

...but my dear husband tells people that he's afraid I am going to divorce him and marry my Instant Pot. (Like that would ever happen!)

I've had my pot for a year now, and I thought I'd celebrate his birthday by sharing one of my favorite ways to use him:

Boiled eggs!

Yes, yes, I've talked about this before, but bear with me.

Okay, so the Instant Pot (or another brand of counter-top electric pressure cooker) is the best way to cook boiled eggs. If you have a new cooker, you'll need to experiment a little bit to get the perfect combination of cook time and pressure release time.

I cook mine for three minutes, let the pot sit for five minutes, and then release the pressure. When the pressure releases completely, I open the pot, carefully remove the cooked eggs (I use a silicone oven mitt), then run them under cold water to stop the cooking.

When I cook them this way, they are always perfectly cooked and super-easy to peel. Win/Win!

My favorite way to eat boiled eggs is...

Deviled Eggs for One

1 or 2 boiled eggs

1 teaspoon mayonnaise per egg

seasonings of choice

Peel your eggs and cut in half. Carefully remove each yolk half and put in a bowl.

Mash the yolks with a fork or a spoon, and add the mayo. Mix well until the yolks/mayo mixture is smooth.

Now you get to have some fun! Here are some of my favorite mix-ins (the measurements are for one egg):

Basic Deviled Eggs:

1/2 teaspoon finely minced onion

1/4 teaspoon prepared mustard

pepper to taste

Deviled Eggs Florentine:

1/2 teaspoon frozen shredded spinach, cooked and cooled (I reserve some from a previous meal)

1/2 teaspoon Parmesan cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

Garlicky Deviled Eggs:
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon Parmesan cheese

salt and pepper to taste

Southwest Deviled Eggs:
1/2 teaspoon Southwest Hot mustard
1/2 teaspoon finely minced onion
Chipotle Chili Powder

And my new favorite:

Wasabi and Soy Sauce Deviled Eggs:
1/4 teaspoon wasabi powder
1/2 teaspoon soy sauce

Do you like to experiment with deviled eggs? Or do you stick with the basic stand-by?

Jan Drexler lives in the Black Hills of South Dakota with her husband and growing family. When she isn't writing, she loves hiking in the Hills or satisfying her cross stitch addiction.

You can find Jan on Facebook, Jan Drexler, author, or her website, Jan Drexler.com.

Jan's Deviled Eggs, Instant Pot Style

I'm recycling this post from several years ago for a very good reason - I've joined the ranks of the Instant Potters, thanks to an early birthday present from my dear husband.

I don't often get all the bells and whistles on my appliances,
but this thing rocks. Go here to learn more.

Missy was right - this appliance is a dream.

One of my favorite ways to use it is to boil eggs!

I know, I know. It's a pressure cooker, so I'm not really boiling the eggs. But when they turn out like this?

Every time?

And peeling them is...wow!?!

It's time to bring back deviled eggs!

Jan's Deviled Eggs

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 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 six eggs.  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 crumble 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), minced 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.

And let's chat about picnics.

I love this quote - it's on my July desk calendar:

"Bread and butter, devoid of charm in the drawing-room, is ambrosia eaten under a tree."
~Elizabeth von Antrim


Here's one of my favorite picnic memories - lobster on the coast of Maine.

Don't you love the look on my Mom's face? And of course, Grandma gets right down to business. One of her favorite dishes was souse, so lobster didn't faze her at all. And that cute kid on the left? That's me :) If you ask nicely, I might even tell you what year this was...

What's your favorite picnic memory?

Hard Boiled Eggs 101 and Classic Deviled Eggs

Hard boiled eggs. Something that's been around forever, yet I know many a person who laments making them because whenever they go to peel them, the eggs themselves end up mangled.

So today I'm going to go step-by-step through the process of successfully boiling and peeling eggs.

Now, I have two ways of boiling eggs. The best method and the quick method. Today I'm going to share the best method.

First, place your eggs, as many as you desire to cook, into a pot that has enough room to not only hold the eggs without crowding, but that will hold enough water to cover the eggs by at least an inch.

Place on a burner over high heat until water comes to a boil.

Once the water is boiling, cover with lid, remove from heat and set aside for 22-24 minutes.

Once the allotted time has passed, place pan in sink and remove lid. Drain off as much of the hot water as you can without losing any eggs, then add cold water and ice.

This stops the cooking process.

By the way, have you ever cut or bit into a hard-boiled egg that was green around the edges as opposed to a pretty yellow?

That's a sign of an overcooked egg.

Thank you, Emeril Lagasse, for sharing that tip on your show many years ago. :)

Once the eggs are cooled, it's time to peel them.

Sometimes eggs are tricky to peel because there is a membrane that sits between the shell and the egg white. To successfully peel an egg, you have to get through that membrane without taking a lot of the egg white with it.

The best way to do that is to get something between that membrane and the white. In this case, water.

So tap your egg on the counter a few times. Just hard enough to crackle the shell, but this is not the time to demonstrate your strength or you'll end up with a big mess.

It should look something like this.

Now run some water over that crackled egg.

Actually, I gently roll it between both hands, allowing the water to work its way under the shell and membrane, but I needed one hand to take the picture.

Sometimes you'll feel the shell almost slipping away from the egg. Other times, you'll need to pick a spot and start peeling. If it feels like it's stuck, roll it under the water some more until you can get that membrane away from the white.

Here's how mine looked. As you can see, while some were perfect, I still had a few ornery eggs where the membrane was stuck to the white and pulled some of it off during the peeling process. That's okay, though. Overall, these are some good looking hard boiled eggs.

But what am I going to do with all these eggs?

Well, we have a party to go to, so I'm going to turn them into deviled eggs. Deviled eggs are a family favorite and good just about anytime, but especially with Texas barbecue.

So I'll start by halving my eggs. I just use a paring knife to slice them lengthwise. Then I plunk the yolks into one bowl and set the whites aside to be filled later.

These are my weapons of choice when it comes to the filling for my deviled eggs.

Mayo, Dijon mustard, seasoned salt, ground black pepper and paprika.

Start by crumbling the yolks with a fork.

Now add the mayonnaise, mustard (you can use regular yellow mustard if you prefer, but I like the extra tang of Dijon) and seasoned salt.

I had 15 eggs, so I started with a half a cup of mayonnaise, about a tablespoon/tablespoon and a half of the mustard and half a teaspoon of seasoned salt. If I were doing only 4-6 eggs, I'd start with 1-2 tablespoons of mayo and about a teaspoon of Dijon. It's not an exact science. Everyone has different tastes. The key is to start small then add more as needed. You don't want to add a ton of mayo then not be able to adjust the other stuff without getting it so thin it's hard to work with.

Stir all that up and give it a taste.

Needs more Dijon.

Perfect!

Now some pepper to taste...

And if you like yours with some relish,

Go ahead and add some of that.

Now it's time to fill those lonely egg whites.

Simply spoon up a dab of the yolk mixture...

And place it into the hole of the white.

(Yes, hubby took this one so I could use two hands)

If you want them to look fancy, you can put the yolk mixture into a decorating bag with a star tip like you would use for piping frosting and pipe the frosting into the holes of the whites.

Since we were going to a barbecue, I decided to keep things rustic.

However, just like the proper accessories set off an outfit, these eggs need a little pop of color.

Paprika to the rescue.

The flavor is gentle and is such that it adds to the egg filling, not overpowers or detracts, and that's what you want from any accessory. ;)

These eggs are ready to par=tay!

So that's today's tutorial on hard boiled eggs.

Are you a hard boiled egg person? What's your favorite way to eat them?

Need a Spring Break?

Last week we had the mother of all crazy snow and ice storms. This week, the temp was in the 70s. Welcome to North Carolina. Ever since I moved here, there has always been a week in the middle of winter that looks like spring, feels like spring and provides a welcome break from winter. Back in my college days, the girls (including moi) would put on our bathing suits and go down to "Tucker Beach", a green square in the midst of the guys' dorms. We'd work on our tans, attract wolf whistles from the guys looking out their windows, and play volleyball. Yes, ManO was one of those looking. No, you aren't getting pictures.

The problem is that warm weather is just a tease. Trees blossom, daffodils appear and then comes the wicked winter again. This year, I decided if my Spring Break outside wasn't going to last, I would at least make Spring come a little early inside the house and, more importantly, inside my soul.

Before with "iced" branches and a snowman. After with my garden baskets and hydrangeas.

Someone on Facebook mentioned people need to stop singing "Let It Go" from the movie Frozen, that every time they do so, the weather turns winter stormy again. That is what got me thinking I needed to put away my winter decor. No snow men, no snow paintings (Man O and I are big aficionados of any painting with snow), no winter quilts.  Let go of winter and bring on all things floral!

The frozen barnyard was put away and I am looking for a painting like this award winner from the State Fair. Lots of flowers AND wonderful characters!

My spring watercolors are out. Some vases are filled with forsythia and pussy willows, giving a nod to the earliest of Spring's pretties. (My mother was a floral arranger of the highest order but I think she would approve of my high quality silk flowers to brighten things.) Pinks, blues, yellows, lavenders are coming out of closets.     

I visit Springtime, thanks to my trip to Monet's garden in Giverney in April years back. If you don't have your own pics, Google and visit, especially Butchart Gardens in Canada.

It looks like Monet's painting because it is Monet's garden. One of the best trips I've had...Paris and Giverney in April!

 

 

 

 

That gives me a boost to plan my own garden. Got to be inspired to think green with gray out there.

Notice I haven't led with food suggestions. When it comes to meals, this is the worst time of year for me. I am tired of winter stews. The farmers' market hasn't really started producing, still a few weeks to go. So I do what I refuse do the rest of the year. I buy "out of season," i.e. I get spring veggies from far away where the growing season is topsy turvy or there are no seasons, just growing season. I ignore the cost. I pretend it's already Easter. Asparagus, strawberries, new potatoes, and spinach salad appear on the table. I make deviled eggs. One meal and leftovers and I'm over the hump. I know I can survive til REAL Spring comes along.

Note: if you find these teeny tiny Simply potatoes in your grocer, get them. They're divine.

So what about you? Do you have a meal that reminds you of spring or signifies it's finally arrived? Do you rearrange or change your decor ahead of seasons? What says Spring to you? Is it daffodils, the arrival of certain birds or the temperature finally being above freezing?

The Ultimate Picnic Food!

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.

Don't you love the look on my Mom's face? And of course, Grandma gets right down to business. One of her favorite dishes was souse, so lobster didn't faze her at all. And that cute kid on the left? That's me :) If you ask nicely, I might even tell you what year this was...

What's your favorite picnic memory?