1. First, you have to boil some eggs. The freshness of the eggs will be obvious when you put them in the pan to boil. Old eggs will float. Fresher ones will stay under the water. Both will likely taste the same, but the older ones will be embarrassing because one end of the egg will be all air, resulting in a flat-ended egg. I have served way too many flat-ended eggs over the years!
2. Be careful that you don't boil the eggs too long. As a young bride, I boiled eggs for 20 minutes and couldn't understand why the edges of the boiled yolks were green. Learned very late in life that a 10-minute boil was enough to keep yolks yellow. Yay! Deviled egg filling isn't supposed to be green! Too bad it took me most of my life to figure that out.
3. Once the ten minute boil is up, run cold water over the eggs. Many sources say ice water. I'm not that conscientious. I just run cold water over them and hope for the best...but I do keep checking to make sure the water is cold enough even after the hot eggs are in there. See how sharp I am??
4. Peeling fresh eggs can be an issue. Old eggs peel easily; fresh ones like to hold the shell close to the egg. You have to get underneath the membrane to get it all properly peeled. Good luck! One time, it took me two hours just to peel a dozen eggs so that the egg white didn't come off with the shell. I learned from that. I usually peel them the day before they are needed, just so I don't come up short on time. Thank God for thumbnails that help me burrow under the membrane to get those shells off cleanly!
5. Rinse off the peeled eggs. If you don't, you will likely bite into something crunchy when the eggs are deviled. Surprises aren't always welcome!
6. Prepare an area in which to do the deviling. You will need a place to discard the shell pieces, a place to put the peeled eggs, a place to put the egg halves (whites) when they are sliced, a place to put the yolk halves when they are removed from the whites, and a place to mix the dressing. Try not to dirty up every bowl in the house.
7. Use a fork to crumble up the cooked egg yolks. The smaller the crumbles, the better. Of course, the process of crumbling also causes the yolks to stick together, so say a little prayer.
8. Prepare the dressing. What's your pleasure? You want garlic? Add garlic! You want onion? Add onion! Maybe shredded cheese? Go for it! I use minced onion, light Miracle Whip, and a touch of mustard. Mix it all up and add it to the yolks to make a paste. (Seasoning according to MY taste, of course. My sister and her crew don't like the onions. No accounting for tastes!)
9. The tricky part is how to get the yolk paste into the egg white shells. My daughter puts the paste into a plastic bag, cuts a corner, and adds the filling by squeezing the bag as if it were a pastry tube. It looks and works great! I, however, usually end up using my pinky finger as a spoon scooper to put a tablespoon of filling in each shell. It's messy, but so is the rest of the process, so who cares?
10. Make those eggs pretty! I usually just sprinkle a little paprika on top for color, but I've seen dill weed, sliced black olives, etc. Voila! Eggs a la Diablo!
11. The trickiest part of all? Finding a way to transport deviled eggs! Unless you are eating at home, there has to be a safe way to take the eggs to the host house...and I usually end up being the one to bring the eggs. (Lucky me!) The silly things are rounded on the bottom, so simply putting them on a pretty plate won't work if you don't want a major dump in the car. Thus, I have invested in several forms of deviled egg presentations. One is a cute deviled egg plate in the shape of a bunny for Easter. He's cute, but he only holds 10 or 12 eggs. Another is an expensive Tupperware carrier (MANY years old), but it only holds 16 deviled eggs. I have invested in several round clear plastic plates from Dollar Tree. They look nice on the table, but are a nightmare to transport, needing plastic wrap that may or may not cling to itself, and finding a way to keep them upright in the car. And then I found a double-stacked set of plastic that will hold a dozen eggs on each level. They all click together, and a lid with a handle clicks onto the rest. (It's still not foolproof. If you don't get the layers properly clicked together, the layers can still come off and hit the floor. It has happened!)
Know why I'm not more persnickety about my deviled eggs? They don't last long! IF you can keep people out of them before the meal is served, you will note that they disappear quickly as they are passed around the table. I always try to fix extra, but who knows? Each deviled egg is maybe two bites, and I don't know a single person that doesn't love them. Here they are....there they go!
The Peggy Way is lots of mess, lots of time, and a lot of patience. Ooohs and Aaahs, are appreciated!
No comments:
Post a Comment