Zesty Mediterranean Deviled Eggs

I got this recipe from a newspaper clipping that credited Rayma Essex Korber of Goddard, KS, the "Deviled Egg Queen." These eggs are pretty good, but royal? I think not ! Surely deviled egg royalty has better recipes than this, particularly royalty pretentious enough to use three names like she's the Immediate Past President of the Junior League of Jackson, MS, or something.

This deviled egg recipe seems to examplify the age old saw of "If you have it in your kitchen, add it to your recipe!" There is just a LOT of stuff going on here - almost too much. There are a lot of really cool things going on here, the main one is the garnish which not only looks really cool but also adds noticeably and uniquely to the flavor, but there also seem to be a lot of extra things going on here, too. With an ingredient list that includes pickle relish, kalamata olives, balsamic vinegar, garlic, AND hot sauce in addition to mayonnaise, mustard, salt, and pepper, there is just a little too much going on here. Further, I've debated in the past the merits of mayonnaise vs. Miracle Whip, and decided that the Miracle Whip just adds a little "bite" the the finished product. So instead of just ONE ingredient that's sort of bland, this recipe calls for Miracle Whip. Nonetheless, the recipe is pretty good and certainly different from the standard deviled egg recipe.

Here is the recipe:

6 hard-boiled eggs
1/6 cup mayonnaise-style salad dressing (Miracle Whip)
1/2 teaspoon Balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon yellow mustard
6 kalamata olives, pitted
1/8 cup sweet pickle relish
1/4 teaspoon minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8-1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
3 drops hot pepper sauce
6 stuffed green olives, halved, for garnish

Mix yolks with mayonnaise, vinegar, and mustard. Finely chop kalamata olives. Add olives, relish, and garlic to the egg yolk mixture. Season with salt and pepper. Add hot sauce. Fill egg halves with mixture. Garnish with halved stuffed green olives.




Above: adding the mayonnaise, balsamic vinegar, and mustard




Above: adding the olives, sweet pickle relish, and minced garlic



Don't those sliced olives look cool as the garnish? And they actually add in a great way to the flavor. Unfortunately the filling looks like something I saw in the 2 Girls 1 Cup video. Here is the rating:

Overall: 68 out of 100
Texture: 13 out of 20
Flavor: 15 out fo 20
Uniqueness: 16 out of 20
Appearance: 15 out of 20 (plus 5 because of the garnish; minus 5 because of the appearance of the filling
Ease of preparation: 10 out of 20 (a lot of work chopping all those ingredients)

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