Chive-Tarragon Deviled Eggs

As the weather warms up, so must the style of deviled eggs. Spring herbs have sprung, so I was glad to use a couple in this recipe. Plus, it was good to get the taste of Becky's Nasty Deviled Eggs out of my mouth, even if it was just a simple, light recipe. There was a lot of stuff going on in this recipe, some interesting ingredients, and I really liked that I could use some fresh chives from my herb garden.

I prefer that deviled eggs be more substantive. I like bacon in them, maybe some other meat as heft. And these eggs are definitely light, almost refreshing. I didn't think they would be particularly well-received, but my tasting panel gobbled them up pretty quickly.

Here is the recipe:

6 hard-boiled eggs
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
few drops hot sauce
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh chives
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh tarragon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
additional chives for garnish

1. Mash egg yolks.
2. Stir in mayonnaise, lemon juice, hot sauce, herbs, salt, and mustard.
3. Fill egg white halves with yolk mixture.
4. Garnish with additional finely chopped chives
5. Allow to chill for at least 1 hour before serving.


Above: adding the mayonnaise, lemon juice, and hot sauce

Above: adding the chives, tarragon, salt, and dry mustard


Above: the finished product, with chives as garnish

So, in the end, this was a pretty good recipe. The lemon juice gave the eggs a little bit of a refreshing flavor. The herbs worked well in this season. The slight hot sauce was there for just a LITTLE bite. And the mustard made the flavor just a little more complex. These aren't the best recipe I've tried, but they are pretty good.

Here are the scores:

Overall: 65 out of 100
Texture: 14 out of 100
Flavor: 14 out of 100
Uniqueness: 12 out of 100
Appearance: 11 out of 100
Ease of preparation: 14 out of 100

Comments?

Deviled Eggs with Tarragon

And it had been so much fun. The last few recipes, maybe a half dozen or so, had all been pretty good. They weren't all the same, but they were all good in their own ways. Then I tried a recipe for "Deviled Eggs with Tarragon." Ouch.

Tarragon, known as the dragon herb, supposedly pairs well with fish, chicken, or egg. So these eggs should be good, right? A little tarragon as the dominant flavor? A little mayonnaise for texture, and a little Dijon mustard and capers to give the flavor a little more complex profile? Doesn't work. Here's the recipe.

6 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and sliced in half
4 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon minced capers
1 1/2 teaspoons minced tarragon leaves
2 tablespoons minced chives.

Mix yolks, mayonnaise, mustard, capers, and tarragon leaves. Fill egg halves with mixture. Allow to chill for at least 1 hour for flavors to meld. Garnish with minced chives.


Above: adding the mayonnaise and Dijon mustard

Above: adding the minced capers and the minced tarragon leaves

Above: the finished "Deviled Eggs with Tarragon, after garnishing with chives

So these are just not that good. I guess the best way to describe them is just "blah." The tarragon flavor is there for sure, it just doesn't work. The texture is alright, although I honestly can't tell that the Dijon mustard adds anything to either the texture or the flavor. The capers are evident in the flavor, but unlike the smoked salmon deviled egg recipe from earlier this week, the capers don't seem to add anything. I guess I like deviled eggs that have a little more flavor to them.

Overall: 45 out of 100
Texture: 13 out of 20
Flavor: 3 out of 20
Uniqueness: 4 out of 20
Appeareance: 10 out of 20
Ease of preparation: 15 out of 20

Comments?