1. I've been traveling a bit and haven't made deviled eggs for my travels.
2. I've made a few recipes, but have yet to post them.
3. I HAVE made deviled eggs a few times to share with people, but I've been sticking to "tried and true" recipes rather than experimenting.
And I've realized something else in making "tried and true" recipes. I LOVE the Bacon And Cheese Deviled Eggs (http://thebestdeviledeggs.blogspot.com/2007/09/bacon-and-cheese-deviled-eggs.html) tested last September, and I make them relatively often. In fact, they received a VERY high composite score of 83 out of 100. However... other people don't like them as much. Such is life, and this serves as a reminder that my personal preferences influence the deviled egg grading more than the opinions of my panelists.
Here is the newest recipe, which I actually made a few weeks ago but just now got around to posting.
The key to this recipe, which supposedly originated in Gourmet magazine btu I'm not so sure - and the key to a few others I will make and post about intermittently - is HOT Hungarian paprika. Hungarian paprika comes in several varietes, and the most common is sweet Hungarian paprika. But this recipe specifically calls for HOT Hungarian paprika, which I found at a local international grocery. It is pictured below:
The recipe doesn't call for much of it (just 1/8 of a teaspoon) but the recipe ALSO calls for 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper. So I expected heat, and lots of it. In fact, I looked forward to the reactions of the tasting panel to the heat in this recipe. And alas... it wasn't that hot. Really, it was OK, easy to make, and just sort of plain. Here is the recipe:
6 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and halved
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon HOT Hungarian paprika
chopped fresh chives
1. Mash egg yolks in a small bowl.
2. Add mayonnaise, mustard, cayenne pepper, and paprika.
3. Blend well and fill egg whites with mixture.
4. Garnish with fresh chopped chives.
5. Allow eggs to chill in refrigerator for at least 1 hour before serving.
Above: adding the mayonnaise and Dijon mustard
Above: adding the cayenne pepper and HOT Hungarian paprika
Above: the finished product, garnished with the fresh chives.
Part of the scoring of deviled egg recipes, to me, considers the expectations. In other words, there wasn't anything WRONG with this recipe, but it didn't match my expectations. Could I make it again and double the amount of cayenne and paprika? Sure... but the flavor itself wasn't good enough to warrant additional tries to perfect this recipe, like I do with others. I have other recipes that use HOT Hungarian paprika, and I'll try them and grade them, but I'm not really going forward with this specific recipe. It just doesn't have anything in it that warrants more effort.
Here are the scores:
Overall: 63 out of 100
Texture: 15 out of 100
Flavor: 6 out of 100 (lowered because of the heat expectations)
Uniqueness: 12 out of 100 (2 extra points because of the hot Hungarian paprika)
Appearance: 12 out of 100
Ease of preparation: 18 out of 100
Comments?
