Smoked Salmon Deviled Eggs

I've been trying to move away from the deviled egg recipes that just incorporate different quantities of the standby ingredients - mayonnaise, mustard, pickle juice or something, salt and pepper, etc. The last one, which I really enjoyed, has some finely diced chicken thrown in the mix. This one adds some smoked salmon. Although I'm not usually a fan of smoked salmon, I was very impressed with this recipe for some ancillary reasons. Here goes:


6 hard-boiled eggs
2 tablespoons sour cream
1 tablespoon cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 teaspoons French Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons smoked salmon, finely chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons scallions, finely chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
capers, for garnish (can also be garnished with caviar)


Combine the mashed egg yolks with the sour cream, cream cheese, and mustard. Stir in the smoked salmon and scallions. Season to taste. Fill the egg whites with mixture and garnish each deviled egg with a couple of capers (or some caviar).



Above: adding the sour cream, cream cheese, and Dijon mustard. Note: I microwaved the cream cheese for a few seconds so it was soft enough to fully incorporate into the egg mixture.


Above: adding the smoked salmon (which must be VERY finely chopped) and the scallions


Above: the final product, with each deviled egg garnished with 2 capers


As I said, I'm not a huge fan of smoked salmon. But this recipe was actually very good. First of all, the texture was great. Rather than the typical mayonnaise base, this recipe uses a base of sour cream and softened cream cheese. I realize that the sour cream is part of the base because of how well it matches with the smoked salmon (which is the intended dominant flavor), but adding the softened cream cheese to thicken the mixture is a stroke of genius. The second reason this recipe is so good is that each of the ancillary ingredients serves to enhance the flavor of the dominant flavor, the smoked salmon. Adding scallions, the sour cream, even the touch of Dijon mustard really help to accent the smoked salmon flavor. And the capers as a garnish, while not only kind of cool looking, also add to the flavor. I didn't use caviar as a garnish, as the recipe said was possible, but I am sure it would be just as good as the capers.

Overall: 79 out of 100
Texture: 19 out of 20 (again, nearly perfect, like the Chicken Deviled Eggs)
Flavor: 12 out of 20
Uniqueness: 19 out of 20 (bonus points for the cream cheese in the mix to help the texture)
Appeareance: 18 out of 20
Ease of preparation: 11 out of 20

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?

Bacon Deviled Eggs

A wise man once said, "Everything is better with bacon." Deviled eggs are no exception. Here is a recipe I recently tried for Bacon Deviled Eggs.


6 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and cut in half
1/4 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon reserved bacon drippings
dash hot sauce
pinch salt
2 slices of bacon, cooked crisp
chopped parsley

Above: adding the sour cream, mustard, and bacon dripping, which goes right into the filling.

After preparing the filling by stirring the egg yolks, sour cream, mayonnaise, and bacon drippings thoroughly, place filling into each egg half. Then garnish with chopped fresh parsley and the crumbled pieces of bacon.

The finished product:

Review: The sour cream gives these eggs a nice, creamy texture - really different than traditional deviled eggs, but very very good. With no mayonnaise or Miracle Whip, the eggs really take on more of a bacon flavor - the bacon drippings, a unique touch, certainly help with this. Of course, anything tastes better with bacon. The crumbled bacon not only add to the bacon flavor, they also add a crunch to the texture - the parsley doesn't add much flavor but adds a lot of color.

Overall grade: 75 (out of 100)

Texture: 18 out of 20

Flavor: 17 out of 20

Appearance: 15 out of 20

Uniqueness: 15 out of 20 (because the bacon drippings are added)

Ease of preparation: 10 out of 20 (frying bacon is messy, but the result is great)

Any comments or suggestions?