Pancetta and Maytag Blue Cheese Deviled Eggs

I REALLY loved this recipe. Pretty simple, yet uses some unique ingredients. Doesn't get too fancy, yet the double use of the pancetta is a creative way to incorporate into the flavor AND the appearance. Just egg yolks, mayonnaise, Maytag blue cheese, pancetta, and a little salt and pepper. As simple as it seems, I honestly believe that adding ANYTHING else (mustard, relish, red pepper, even paprika) would just take away the brilliant simplicity of this recipe.

And the requirements of using Maytag blue cheese might seem like mere conspicuous consumption, but because the result was so good, I think it might be necessary.

Here is the recipe:

6 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and sliced in half

1/4 lb pancetta, finely diced before cooking

2 1/2 tablespoons mayonnaise

1 1/2 tablespoons Maytag blue cheese, crumbled

salt and pepper to taste

1. Finely dice pancetta before cooking.

2. Cook pancetta over medium heat until crispy.

3. Slice eggs in half and remove yolks.

4. Mash yolks in a bowl until fine.

5. Add mayonnaise and Maytag blue cheese.

6. Add 2/3 of the cooked pancetta.

7. Add salt and pepper to taste.

8. Mix well and fill egg halves with mixture.

9. Allow eggs to chill for an hour before serving.

9. Garnish with remaining 1/3 of cooked pancetta.

Note: do NOT chill the pancetta as a garnish. In fact, 10 second in a microwave before garnishing and serving will really punch up the crispiness and flavor of the pancetta garnish.

Here are the pictures:

Above: adding the mayonnaise, Maytag blue cheese, and pancetta

Above: the finished product, garnished with the pancetta.

And now a couple of caveats so you enjoy this recipe as much as I did. One of my tasting panelists did not like this recipe. Why? He doesn't like blue cheese. So, to enjoy this recipe, and to believe it's high score, you must be a lover of blue cheese. It is a strong flavor, and is clearly the dominant flavor in this recipe.

Another caveat: do NOT allow the pancetta garnish to chill. Chill the eggs so the flavors meld and so the texture sets up nicely, but a few tasters didn't like the chilled pancetta as a garnish. So just garnish the eggs immediately before serving - something that is very different from most deviled egg recipes.

One last comment. One taster asked why this recipe required pancetta rather than just bacon. Well, pancetta and bacon are VERY similar, but pancetta is cured and spiced, and those spices are what provide enough subtleties in the flavor in this recipe that the simplicity of just mayonnaise, Maytag blue cheese, and pancetta (and a little salt and pepper, if you wish) provides, counter-intuitively, enough complexity.

Here are the scores:

Overall: 86 out of 100

Texture: 17 out of 20 (the blue cheese MUST be crumbled and well-blended, which is a bit of a challenge)

Flavor: 19 out of 20

Uniqueness: 18 out of 20

Appearance: 18 out of 20

Ease of preparation: 14 out of 20 (because you have to fry the pancetta)

Comments?

Southern Living Buttery Dijon Deviled Eggs

Deviled Eggs, in many people's eyes, are a distincly Southern delicacy.

So who better to suggest a Deviled Egg recipe than that bastion of all things Southern, Southern Living magazine?

This recipe (supposedly) comes from a recipe that originally appeared in an issue of Southern Living magazine. If that's true, I'm a little surprised and a little more disappointed. While this recipe is good, it's not great... and I expected great from that scion of Southern culture, Southern Living magazine.

This recipe is called "Buttery Dijon Deviled Eggs" but that title doesn't really describe what's going on here. First of all, as we have learned throughout this blog, the use of butter in deviled egg filling is less about the flavor and more about the texture. And as with all deviled egg recipes I have tried that use butter, the filling in this recipe solidifies when the eggs are chilled. There isn't a whole lot of butter flavor, per se, but the butter has a large effect - most of it negative and most of it on the texture of the deviled egg filling. Perhaps if someone wanted to thicken a deviled egg filling, he or she could use a LITTLE butter - but equal parts butter to mayonnaise just makes a solid filling when chilled, not a good result.

Second, the title implies that Dijon mustard will be a dominant flavor, but it wasn't. In fact, there wasn't really a dominant flavor - just the thickness of the butter.

That doesn't mean that this recipe was bad, because it wasn't. It just wasn't as good as I expected from Southern Living magazine.

Here is the recipe:

6 eggs, hard-boiled, peeled, and cut in half
1/8 cup butter, softened
1/8 cup mayonnaise
1/2 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
salt to taste
ground white pepper to taste
paprika (optional)

1. Cut eggs in half lengthwise and remove yolks.
2. Mash yolks in a smal bowl.
3. Stil in butter, mayonnaise, mustard, lemon juice, and ground red pepper

4. Stir in salt and white pepper to taste.

5. Spoon mixture evenly into egg white halves.

6. Sprinkle with paprika, if desired.

7. Cover and chill at least 1 hour or until ready to serve

Here are the pictures:

Above: adding the mayonnaise, softened butter, and Dijon mustard

Above: adding the lemon juice and red pepper

Above: the finished product, garnished with paprika

Here are the scores:

Overall: 59 out of 100

Texture: 8 out of 20 (I just don't like the thickness the butter provides)

Flavor: 10 out of 20

Uniqueness: 12 out of 20 (extra for the use of white pepper)

Appearance: 14 out of 20 (again, extra for the use of white pepper)

Ease of preparation: 15 out of 20

Comments?

Grandma Stanley's Deviled Eggs

An eagle-eyed deviled egg fan recently sent me this piece, which originally ran in the Atlanta (GA) Journal-Constitution as part of its amazing Southern Recipe Restoration project.

http://projects.eveningedge.com/recipes/grandma-stanleys-deviled-eggs/

It's always great to read a brief story along with a recipe, and this recipe has that story. Unfortunately for Grandma Stanley and her progeny, this blog does not have a scoring category for "background story."

However, it doesn't really matter in this case. This recipe boils down to one thing: sometimes, simple is better.

These may be the simplest deviled eggs that I have made since I began this blog, but believe it or not, they do not disappoint. Just mayonnaise, sweet relish, and some salt and pepper. That's it. Yet, it's great.

In case you didn't read the link, here is the recipe:

6 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and sliced in half
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons sweet pickle relish
salt and pepper to taste.

1. In a small bowl, combine the yolks, mayonnaise, and pickle relish.
2. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
3. Fill the egg white halves with the filling.

Yep, that's it.

Here are the pictures:

Above: adding the mayonnaise and relish

Above: adding the pepper and salt

Above: the finished product

Is this recipe perfect? Of course not. When I made it, I did have to add more salt and pepper than I had expected in order to "season to taste", in this case, my taste. Plus, with no garnish at all, these eggs look very plain.

But the tasting panel loved them, one panelist even calling them "the best yet." Well, they aren't the BEST yet, but they are damn good. And they are good enough that I will even try some of the suggested relish substitutions like chopped sun-dried tomatoes or chopped ham. If I do, I will grade them on here as well.

This recipe is also serves as a great base recipe for deviled eggs. If you have a serving idea or topping idea and need just a BASE recipe, this is it. Maybe a little mustard, maybe a little less relish (since that's clearly the dominating flavor), but this is a great base.

Here are the scores:

Overall: 69 out of 100
Texture: 15 out of 20
Flavor: 14 out of 20
Uniqueness: 13 out of 20 (extra points because their simplicity is so unique)
Appearance: 8 out of 20
Ease of preparation: 19 out of 20

Up next will be a report on the OTHER recipe suggested in the backstory of Grandma Stanley's deviled eggs.

Comment?