Gourmet Magazine Deviled Eggs

Old Cleveland Municipal Stadium had a secret recipe for spicy brown mustard, and I will never forget my only trip to watch an Indians game there. Today, that stadium sits at the bottom of Lake Erie, shoved in the lake in whole to become what is one of the world's largest man-made lakes. I fondly remember the hot dog with the spicy mustard at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, so I'm a spicy mustard fan.

But a little too much spicy mustard is way too much spicy mustard. And this recipe supposedly came from Gourmet magazine.

I expected more from Gourmet magazine. I don't know whether this recipe really appeared in Gourmet magazine or not, but they can do better. I like that this recipe at least tried something new - in this case, using more mustard than mayonnaise - but it didn't work out. The use of the spicy brown mustard made THAT the dominant flavor, and you couldn't really taste anything else. This recipe also included capers, parsley, hot sauce, and vinegar, but all were lost under the spicy brown mustard.

I also sort of liked the idea that everything, including the capers and parsley, were mixed in the filling rather than used as a garnish. I liked it until I saw the result, which looked like Stewie Griffin had eaten a Toblerone and deposited it in these egg whites.

The only other interesting concept with this recipe is that it suggests thinning the mixture with a little water. I'm not a fan of this. Runny filling is always a deviled egg problem, and adding water makes the filling MORE runny, plus adds no flavor. Just not a great concept.

Here is the recipe:

6 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and cut in half
3 tablespoons spicy brown mustard
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
3/4 teaspoon white-wine vinegar
1/8 teaspoon hot sauce
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves
2 teaspoons drained bottled capers
1 to 2 tablespoons water
salt and pepper to taste

1. Crumble egg yolks in a small bowl untilyolks are very fine.
2. Stir in mustard, mayonnaise, vinegar, hot sauce, parsley, and capers.
3. Stir in enough of the water to reach desired consistency.
4. Add salt and pepper to taste.
5. Mound filling in egg whites, and allow to chill before serving.


Above: adding the mustard, mayonnaise, and vinegar

Above: adding the hot sauce, parsley, and capers

Above: the finished product (notice no garnish)

The picture of the finished product doesn't do it justice - they looked a lot worse. Maybe SOME garnish would help, but the spicy brown mustard becomes the dominant color, and the eggs just don't look that appetizing. Couple that with the overwhelming spicy brown mustard flavor, and these just don't work that well.

Here are the scores:

Overall: 58 out of 100
Texture: 14 out of 100 (bonus points for trying the water addition, although I didn't like it)
Flavor: 8 out of 100
Uniqueness: 14 out of 100
Appearance: 7 out of 100
Ease of preparation: 15 out of 100

Comments?

Parsley and Vinegar Deviled Eggs (Round 2)

I originally tested this recipe on January 6 (http://thebestdeviledeggs.blogspot.com/2008/01/parsley-and-vinegar-deviled-eggs.html) and made an error. This recipe called for half mayonnaise and half Miracle Whip, and I used all Miracle Whip. Since then, I've taken some classes in basic reading fundamentals, and I was able to successfully test this recipe AGAIN, this time actually following the recipe.

And the difference was noticeable. Whereas in the original recipe, the Miracle Whip became the dominant flavor, in the redo the Miracle Whip just provided a little tang and the mayonnaise provided the rest of the substance. That allowed the other ingredients - the parsley, the vinegar, and the hot sauce - to stand out a little more.

But the change didn't make this recipe "great." It's adequate - in fact, it was VERY popular with the tasters when I made it - but it's just nothing special.

Here is the recipe:

6 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and sliced in half
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 each salt and fresh ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon dry parsley flakes
1/2 tablespoon white vinegar
couple dashes hot pepper sauce (to taste)
just less than 1/4 cup mayonnaise
just less than 1/4 cup Miracle Whip
paprika, to garnish

1. Mash yolks with a fork until crumbly.
2. Add mayonnaise and Miracle whip a little at a time until the yolk mixture if of a paste consistency.
3. Add dry mustard, salt, pepper, and parsley and mix with fork.
4. Add vinegar and hot pepper sauce.
5. Fill egg white halves.
6. Sprinkle with paprika to garnish.
7. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Above: adding the mayonnaise, Miracle Whip, and dry mustard

Above: adding the salt, fresh ground pepper, and parsley flakes.

Above: adding the white vinegar, the hot sauce, and the finished product.

The texture and flavor were improved, but everything else remains the same. A slight bump in score, but not a lot. And I'm so goddamn tired of seeing paprika as a garnish of deviled eggs (it's a lazy garnish - just sprinkle, nothing else required) that I vow to make five consecutive recipes that use ANYTHING OTHER THAN PAPRIKA as the garnish.

Here are the scores:

Overall: 58 out of 100
Texture: 13 out of 20 (held up better with mayonnaise used appropriately)
Flavor: 13 out of 20
Uniqueness: 8 out of 20
Appearance: 7 out of 20 (I've had enough of paprika as the garnish - see above)
Ease of preparation: 17 out of 20

Comments?

Parsley and Vinegar Deviled Eggs (Round 1)

The main ingredient in deviled eggs is either mayonnaise or Miracle Whip. It's always intriguing to see which way a recipe will go (I lean toward mayonnaise when only a flavorless base is needed) and this recipe uses Miracle Whip to provide a little bite. But the rest of the flavors - dried parsley, white vinegar, a dash of hot pepper sauce - just aren't strong enough to overpower the tang of the Miracle Whip. Thus, the dominant flavor of these eggs is Miracle Whip.

Here is the recipe:

6 hard-boiled eggs
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon each salt and fresh ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon dry parsley flakes
1/2 tablespoon white vinegar
dash of hot pepper sauce
just less than 1/2 cup Miracle Whip
paprika to garnish

Combine mustard, salt and pepper, parsley, vinegar, hot pepper sauce, and Miracle Whip with mashed egg yolks. Blend well and fill egg white halves with mixture. Garnish with paprika.


Above: adding the dry mustard, salt, and fresh ground pepper


Above: adding the parsley flakes, white vinegar, hot pepper sauce, and Miracle Whip


Above: a coincidentally suitable picture of the final product; just as this picture is blurry and not very good, the appearance of these eggs wasn't that great either

Here are the scores:

Overall: 52 out of 100
Texture: 10 out of 20 (it seemed good when I made it, but eventually they were a little runny)
Flavor: 10 out of 20
Uniqueness: 8 out of 20
Appearance: 7 out of 20
Ease of preparation: 17 out of 20

So this recipe, looking at the scores, was easy to make but was a letdown in every other way. The texture seemed good when I made it, but whereas most eggs "set up" when they chill, these seemed to become a little runnier. The flavor was entirely average, as the Miracle Whip seemed to drown out the parsley, vinegar, hot pepper sauce, etc. Not very unique, and these eggs didn't look too appetizing - almost taking on a grayish tint.

But... a caveat. I messed up when I made these. I made them in a hurry and didn't notice that the base is supposed to be half mayonnaise and half Miracle Whip. So, all these negatives could, conceivably, be my fault. As such, I'm going to try them again. I have a couple of other recipes I have already made and need to post on the blog, so it might be a couple weeks before the "Parsley and Vinegar Deviled Eggs: Round 2" appears, but wait for it. It will be interesting to see the new score compared to this one.

Comments?