Texas-Style Deviled Eggs

At The Best Deviled Eggs, I get a TON of suggestions for deviled eggs that aren't really recipes. Just a lot of comments like "I use caviar on top of my deviled eggs" or that suggest other deviled egg toppings. From these topping suggestions came the recipe that, so far, I think is truly the BEST deviled egg recipe - the April 2008 recipe for "Crispy-Fried Prosciutto Deviled Eggs" seen here: http://thebestdeviledeggs.blogspot.com/2008/04/crispy-fried-prosciutto-deviled-eggs.html

That recipe came from a suggestion of crispy-frying prosciutto for a deviled egg topping, combined with a very good, but very basic, recipe I received from a friend's mother.

Also, in January 2008, I noted in this entry (http://thebestdeviledeggs.blogspot.com/2008/01/oregano-deviled-eggs.html) that whenever a deviled egg recipe seems like it's missing something, that "something" is usually pickle relish.

Well, this recipe, credited online to Sheila Chase, is a very simple deviled egg recipe that uses pickle relish. Is it great? No... it's OK, but it's pretty basic and has no flourishes. And as this blog has taught us, it's the flourishes that "make" deviled egg recipes complete. Just mayonnaise, relish, salt and pepper, and a little mustard. The original recipe wasn't really specific about proportions, and the suggested proportions left a filling that was too dry, so I corrected them for the purposes of this test. In fact, the original recipe says that mustard is "optional", but in fact, it's actually pretty necessary.

What this recipe IS, however, is the perfect "base" deviled egg recipe, and a recipe I will probably use in the future to test recipes where I'm just given a suggested topping.

Here is the recipe:

6 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and sliced in half
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon sweet pickle relish
1 teaspoon yellow mustard
salt and pepper to taste

1. Slice eggs in half and remove yolks.
2. Mash yolks in a bowl until fine.
3. Add mayonnaise, relish, and mustard.
4. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
5. Mix well and fill egg halves with mixture.
6. Allow eggs to chill for one hour before serving.

Here are the pictures:

Above: adding the mayonnaise, relish, and mustard

Above: the final product (notice the lack of garnish)

The lack of garnish is what makes this recipe just TOO basic. But I guess "basic" means that this recipe is the perfect base for future recipes, where just a garnish is suggested.

Here are the scores:

Overall: 65 out of 100

Texture: 15 out of 20 (once the proportions were fine-tuned)

Flavor: 15 out of 20

Uniqueness: 8 out of 20

Appearance: 8 out of 20

Ease of preparation: 19 out of 20

Comments?

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?

Sour Cream, Lemon, and Herb Deviled Eggs

Well, they aren't all home runs. Some are RBI doubles, some are sharp singles, and some are strikeouts. But this recipe was just a pop foul that the third baseman camps under and catches easily. Not totally worthless, but doesn't accomplish anything. Nonetheless, here it is:

Sour Cream, Lemon, and Herb Deviled Eggs

3 tablespoons sour cream
1 1/2 tablespoons mayonnaise
3/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated lemon peel
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
fresh thyme

Instructions:

Add all ingredients to egg yolks. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Spoon yolk mixture into egg whites, and sprinkle generously with finely chopped fresh thyme.


Adding the sour cream, mayonnaise, and Dijon mustard to the mashed egg yolks.

Grating the lemon zest into the filling mixture, squeezing the fresh lemon juice, and adding the cayenne pepper.

The finished product, after filling the eggs and sprinkling with finely chopped thyme.

Review: first off, the filling is too runny. Way too runny. I'm not sure why the recipe calls for both mayonnaise AND sour cream, but deviled eggs require a firm center, and these did not have them. Second of all, the lemon was overpowering. While lemon is a nice flavor in many things, I thought it overpowered any other flavor. The thyme is sort of wasted, although thyme with lemon is usually a nice combination.

Overall: 40 out of 100

Texture: 2 out of 20 - just way too runny
Flavor: 5 out of 20

Uniqueness: 13 out of 20

Appearance: 12 out of 20

Ease of preparation: 8 out of 20 (grating lemon peel and the messiness of the filling caused this to go down)

Anybody have any comments?