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?

Midwestern Beer Brats For Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day!

I hope you're having a wonderful day of picnics, time with friends and family, and splendid summer weather.

But, just in case your Memorial Day picnic has been rained out, here's a way to cook those brats on the stove - saving your meal in a delicious way! Enjoy this recipe that I shared back in 2012:

Midwestern Beer Brats

“Hot enough for ya?”

“It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity.”

                        And its partner, “It’s a dry heat, just like your oven.”

And my favorite?

“Satan called. He wants his weather back.”

Face it, this summer has been brutal, rivaling the 1930’s dust bowl era.

In our part of the country, drought has been the killer.

Our area (the Black Hills of South Dakota) is classified as “extreme drought”. That means fire bans. All fires.

The problem? I have a charcoal grill.

Yeah, I know, gas is more convenient. But a gas grill just doesn’t give you that smoky flavor…

 Anyway, I haven’t been able to use my grill since June.

     No 4^th of July barbeque!

                No Saturday night burgers!

                                And {gasp!} no brats!

What’s a mid-western gal going to do to feed her family?

Believe it or not, a southern belle came to my rescue.

(No, not Missy. The other one. Paula.)

This recipe was one her show one day back in June (before my daughter was employed and still had time to watch daytime TV), and when I thought I couldn’t stand going without brats one more week, I remembered it.

I’m rating this one “pretty easy”. You do have to open the beer cans…

Oh, and for those who don’t drink? There’s no alcohol in the finished product. It all gets simmered away - or you can use water or non-alcoholic beer.

Midwestern-Style Beer Brats

With thanks to the Deen brothers for the original recipe.

(Which I changed, of course. I can never leave those recipes alone!)

Ingredients:

•  10 fresh (not smoked or pre-cooked) bratwurst sausages (I used Johnsonville)
• (This is to serve seven people, three with large appetites. Make as many brats as you need.)
•   6  16 ounce, or 8 12 ounce cans of beer (not the good stuff - after all, you will be cooking it) - or water - or another fizzy drink, like ginger ale
•  1 large onion, sliced and divided into two piles
•  A variety of peppers – I used those little bell peppers you can get in yellow, orange and red, and threw in a few slices of green pepper to go with them.
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• Black pepper, to taste
• 10 brat buns or hoagie rolls
• Mustard – don’t skimp on this. Get the best German-style, stone-ground mustard you can find.

So, first we boil the brats in the beer. Empty the cans of beer into a large pot and add half the sliced onions. Prick the brats all over with a fork, and then drop them in. Bring the pot to a boil and simmer 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet or Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the remaining onions and the peppers. Cook about 15 minutes, or until they’re very soft, stirring and tossing occasionally.

When the brats are done simmering, add them to the skillet with about a quarter cup of the cooking liquid. Turn the heat up a smidge and stir the brats, peppers and onions together until the brats start browning (between 5 and 15 minutes). Add more liquid if necessary to keep the peppers from scorching. As they’re cooking, season with a few grinds from your pepper grinder (or shakes from your shaker).

Split the buns, if they aren’t already sliced. Slather one side of the bun with mustard and add your brat along with as many of the sautéed peppers and onions you desire.

And the corn? I used the microwave method Missy shared with us a few weeks ago, of course! Go here to find that recipe.

Back to 2016 - Memorial Day is a very special day in the US. While Veteran's Day honors soldiers who have served in our armed forces, and Armed Services Day honors those who are currently serving, Memorial Day honors those who have paid the ultimate price for our freedom.

So enjoy your day, but don't forget the reason why we celebrate. :)

Jan Drexler loves her family, her home, cooking and just about anything made by hand. But she loves her Lord most of all.

Stop by Jan's website to learn more about her books: www.JanDrexler.com.

Picnic food for those who walk on the wild side

Hi everybody!!!

  We've had a heat wave which means we're doing a lot of things outside. Swimming. Sleeping. Eating. Of course BBQ is a favorite around here, but sometimes I need something more than burgers and hotdogs, ya know??

 So, this is a pasta salad recipe that shows up at family functions. If you don't know my family, when you see the recipe, you'll understand. It's a bit... weird. And we're all a bit... weird.

 

First, an egg timer. What? You don't have one of these?? I got this as a bridal shower gift and it's AMAZING. You plop it in the boiling water with the eggs. Then, it changes color and you take the eggs out when the color reaches the setting you want. Ha! Brilliant!

 

Next, several pounds of cooked pasta, firm. I usually use the spinach variety, but we were out. So, plain old corkscrew it is.

 

1/4 cup mayo and 4 TBS vinegar. I thought we might be out of vinegar because the kids were using it for our home made volcanoes. (They did use up all the baking soda, but since I still haven't gone oven shopping, I'm okay with that.)

Green olives, pickled jalapenos, sharp cheddar and sweet onion. Have I lost you yet???

2 TSP thyme. Some people put in marjoram but I'm not a big fan of marjoram.  Mix the mayo, vinegar and herbs together, them mix with the pasta. If this sounds like something you wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole, I think it helps to remember it's basically the recipe for Thousand Island dressing without the Worchester and ketchup. Some people put in sweet relish, and sometimes I put in dill relish, but I went for simple and spicy this time.

 

One pound cubed sharp cheese onto the pasta, which was cooled and rinsed in cold water. We don't want to heat up all these ingredients. That would be a whole different flavor. We're going for chilled excellence.

                               
Three large green olives, minced. Sometimes I use garlic, too, but I wasn't feeling the garlic love today.

Mmmmm! Farm fresh eggs! Peeled and sliced roughly. I also add some tasty bits like bacon or pimento or sweet red pepper or celery slices. It's really a versatile recipe after you get the base where think it tastes good. Chill at least 3 hours in a sealed bowl, covered with plastic wrap so it doesn't dry out.

Here's hubby's plate. I like the pickled jalapeno flavor but not necessarily the 'burn your face off' after-effects. So, I layered on the peppers for him and took them off my own.

And this is a picture of what I got one week at the Farmer's Market. YUMMY! See that giant cinnamon roll?? I love local food. Cinnamon rolls may not be quite the "farm fresh" food people think of, but I'm telling you, it's GOOD!

 

 

 

  Ok, you all! Have a wonderful week and don't melt in the heat! I'll be in the kiddie pool if you need me...

 

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?