Hell's Eggs

This is the 29th different deviled egg recipe tasted by this blog, and this one has the best name BY A MILE. "Hell's Eggs." It says it all, right? Not quite.

These eggs, apparently, are supposed to be hot. Very hot. I am not one of those people who subscribe to the philosophy of "the hotter the better," I care more about what the flavor and texture of the food item are. So I was prepared to think these things were just too hot. A serrano chile, some cayenne powder, and pure chile powder were all ingredients, so I was ready for some HEAT. Further, I don't like cilantro - I'm one of those people who think it tastes like soap - so I expected THAT to just make me dislike these eggs even more.

But that's not what happened. Were they hot? Sure. But they were also tolerable. In fact, they were interesting in a lot of different ways. The minced garlic and finely diced chile added an interesting crunch to the texture, and the scant amounts of the cayenne chile powders added some heat, but didn't overwhelm. Plus, this is recipe #1 of 5 in a row where I refuse to use paprika as a garnish. And this recipe included paprika in the filling, but the garnish was chopped chives - and they really looked good! All in all, a pleasant surprise based on my expectations of the recipe. However... I guess these eggs didn't really live up to their tremendous name - Hell's Eggs.

Here is the recipe:

6 hard-boiled eggs
1 clove of garlic
1 serrano chile, seeded
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon dried mustard
1/8 teaspoon cayenne powder
1/8 teaspoon pure chile powder
1/8 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon chopped cilantro
1/2 teaspoon chopped chives

1. Finely mince both garlic and serrano chile.
2. Crumble egg yolks until very fine.
3. Add garlic and chile.
4. Add mayonnaise, lemon juice, mustard, and spices.
5. Add chopped cilantro.
6. Fill egg white halves with filling.
7. Top with chopped chives.


Above: adding the minced garlic, minced serrano chile, and mayonnaise


Above: adding the lemon juice and mustard powder


Above: adding the cayenne pepper, pure chile powder, and paprika


Above: adding the salt and cilantro


Above: the final product, Hell's Eggs, topped with chives

The ingredients work really well together here. The chile and the cayenne and chile powders add heat. The chile and the garlic add some textural crunch. The garlic and the mustard, and even the cilantro, add some subtle flavor. And the lemon juice, I suppose, not only moistens the filling but also seems to cut the heat from the cayenne and chile powder so that it's a flavor more than heat. And maybe it's my sudden anti-paprika-garnish bias, but I really like both the flavor and texture of the chives as a garnish.

Here are the scores:

Overall: 77 out of 100
Texture: 18 out of 20
Flavor: 16 out of 20
Uniqueness: 17 out of 20 (plus 2 because of the name Hell's Eggs)
Appearance: 16 out of 20
Ease of preparation: 10 out of 20 (downgraded because of the chopping - plus I had to go to a specialty store to get pure chile powder)

Comments?

Curry Deviled Eggs (Round 1)

I struggled with this recipe, since it listed some ingredients with amount and some without. And after making this recipe, I think some of the amount listed were wrong, and some of the amount I chose to use were also wrong.

Because this thing ended up like a salt lick. With no curry. The idea seems great, the recipe is easy, and the end product looks very good. In fact, it even TASTES good in the first instant you put it in your mouth. But the salt just overwhelms, so I'll try again with a some altered ingredient amount (and I welcome suggestions, as always).

Beyond all that, the proportion wasn't right (I didn't have enough filling to fill all my egg whites), one "squirt" of mustard seemed to drown out any curry, but the white pepper did add a nice bite to the flavor. I really like the idea of mixing half mayonnaise and half sour cream, as the mayonnaise is a subtle flavor rather than a dominant flavor, but it seemed to allow the salt to dominate rather than the curry.

Here is the recipe:

6 hard-boiled eggs
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
1 tablespoon sour cream
1 squirt yellow mustard
1/8 teaspoon curry powder (or to taste)
paprika

1. Crumble egg yolks until very fine.
2. Add dry ingredients, except curry powder.
3. Add wet ingredients.
4. Add curry powder.
5. Spoon filling into egg halves and allow to become firm by refrigerating for at least one hour.
6. Garnish with paprika.

Here are the pictures:

Above: adding the garlic salt and white pepper

Above: adding the mayonnaise, sour cream, and mustard.

Above: adding the curry, and the finished product. (Notice only 11 eggs had filling)

I think this recipe has enough potential that I will retry it, altering the proportions. A little more mayonnaise and sour cream, so the proportion works out. A little less mustard and a little more curry so that the curry flavor is more obvious. And less salt. I might even use a little garlic powder rather than garlic salt (something the original recipe offered - but it also calls for straight salt and I used garlic salt rather than both). We will see...

And one more thing. I'm getting a little tired of recipes that use JUST paprika as garnish. The original recipe suggests paprika, but also says you may use a black or green olive, or caviar, or a "sweet midget pickle" as garnish. Once I figure out what a sweet midget pickle is, I think I might use it as a garnish on the retry of this recipe.

Here are the scores:

Overall: 62 out of 100
Texture: 13 out of 100 (the texture was very good; the proportion was out of whack)
Flavor: 7 out of 20 (potential here, just ruined by the salt)
Uniqueness: 12 out of 100
Appearance: 12 out of 100
Ease of preparation: 18 out of 20

Comments?

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)

Comments?