Bacon and Cheese Deviled Eggs

Sometimes, it just all comes together. This blog is called "In Search Of The Best Deviled Eggs" and so far, these are the best. By far. The proportion was perfect. The texture was excellent. And, of course, everything is better with bacon. And everything with bacon is even better with cheese. This recipe even has that unique characteristic that so many recipes lack - in this case, vinegar.

There are some caveats to this recipe, however. It's labor-intensive, since it involves frying bacon. And it's very important that the bacon is cooked very crisp - I cooked twice as many slices as necessary, then used the crispiest parts of each strip. And in order for the texture to turn out right, the cheddar cheese must be grated VERY finely.

Recipe:

6 hard-boiled eggs
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 slices bacon, cooked crisp, crumbled
2 teaspoons vinegar
1/4 cup finely grated Cheddar cheese
1/8 teaspoon salt


Above: adding the mayonnaise, bacon, and vinegar to the crumbled egg yolks.

Above: adding the Cheddar cheese and salt, just a pinch

Above: the finished product - The Best Deviled Eggs (so far)

This is why I created this blog. I won't stop now, but I will be surprised if very many deviled egg recipes surpass this one.

Overall: 83 out of 100

Texture: 19 out of 20

Flavor: 19 out of 20

Uniqueness: 17 out of 20

Appearance: 16 out of 20

Ease of preparation: 12 out of 20 (because of the need to fry bacon)

Comments?

Deviled Eggs "The Way I Like Them" - Round 2

So I've never re-tried a deviled egg recipe. But last week's "Deviled Eggs The Way I Like Them" was SO CLOSE to being great, I decided to tweak a few of the proportions and give it a go again! And the result was great!

I used less ranch dressing and mayonnaise, the combined total mixture of each was slightly less than 1/4 cup for 6 hard-boiled eggs. This not only reduced the amount of filling, which was WAY too much when I tried this recipe the first time, but also made the filling thicker. Also, I used dry rather than prepared mustard.

Recipe:

6 hard-boiled eggs
slightly less than 1/8 cup ranch dressing
slightly less than 1/8 cup mayonnaise
1/2 tablespoon dry mustard
1 tablespoon sweet pickle relish
seasoning salt to taste


Above: using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, I mixed both the ranch dressing and mayonnaise to total slightly less than 1/4 cup.

Above: adding the dry mustard, the sweet pickle relish, and the seasoned salt.

Above: the finished product, garnished with paprika.

So the taste, again, of this recipe was great. And the texture, finally, works out... as does the proportion. I'm glad I went back and retried this recipe, because these are pretty simple, easy-to-make, yet not bland deviled eggs.

Overall: 80 out of 100

Texture: 18 out of 20

Flavor: 18 out of 20

Uniqueness: 10 out of 20

Appearance: 17 out of 20 (2 additional points because the eggs didn't appear runny)

Ease of preparation: 17 out of 20

Comments?

Deviled Eggs "The Way I Like Them"

I thought this recipe, which uses equal parts ranch dressing and mayonnaise as the base, was very interesting. Americans like ANYTHING better with Ranch dressing on it, and deviled eggs can be no exception, right?

Well this recipe has a lot of positives... and a pretty big negative. The eggs taste great, are not difficult to make, and have a somewhat complex flavor because of the ranch dressing and the seasoning salt added to taste. Even more, the recipe includes a little sweet pickle relish. As I'm making more and more deviled egg recipes, I realize that whenever I taste a recipe and think "something is missing..." that something is often sweet pickle relish.

Recipe:

6 hard-boiled eggs
1/8 cup ranch dressing
1/8 cup mayonnaise
1/2 tablespoon mustard
1 tablespoon sweet pickle relish
seasoning salt to taste

1. Crumble egg yolks in a bowl.
2. Add ranch dressing, mayonnaise, mustard, sweet pickle relish, and seasoning salt.
3. Fill egg halves.
4. Sprinkle with paprika



Above: adding the ranch dressing, mayonnaise, mustard, sweet pickle relish, and seasoning salt.


Above: the finished Deviled Eggs "The Way I Like Them," after being sprinkled with paprika.

The taste of these eggs was really very good. But the texture and proportion is just flat-out wrong. There was way more filling that was necessary, and the filling was far too runny. I want to try this recipe again, perhaps using dry mustard rather than prepared mustard (the original recipe from which I worked did not specify) and maybe using a little less ranch dressing and mayonnaise.

Overall: 55 out of 100
Texture: 5 out of 20
Flavor: 18 out of 20
Uniqueness: 10 out of 20
Appearance: 15 out of 20
Ease of preparation: 17 out of 20

Comments?

Decadent Deviled Eggs

Again, I didn't make two recipes on the same day. I just added them to the blog on the same day.

These eggs are self-proclaimed "decadent" deviled eggs, although I'm not sure that "made nearly entirely of butter" means decadent. But these deviled eggs are really unique, in that their texture changed from when I made them... to when I shared them with some testers... to the next day.

Recipe:

6 hard-boiled eggs

1/4 cup softened butter (I microwaved it for about 10 seconds to soften it up)

1 teaspoon dry mustard

1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1/2 teaspoon hot sauce

1/8 teaspoon celery salt

1. Crumble egg yolks in a bowl.

2. Add 1/2 cup softened butter.

3. Add mustard, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, and celery salt.

4. Mix well and fill egg halves.

Above: adding the softened butter, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, and celery salt.

Above: the finished "decadent" deviled eggs

My reviewers had a mixed reaction. One claimed he couldn't tell that the deviled eggs did not contain mayonnaise. Another claimed that he tasted mostly hot sauce. And yet another claimed he tasted mostly celery salt. I don't know if this makes this recipe enigmatic, or just a mess. As I noted above, the eggs had a typical "deviled egg" consistency when they were first made. When they were chilled, they had firmed up, and by the next day, the filling was totally solid, like a cube of butter, and easily slipped out of the egg halves. I'm really not sure what to make of these, so I'd like some feedback.

Overall: 55 out of 100
Texture: 10 out of 20 (because it was so weird)
Flavor: 8 out of 20
Uniqueness: 17 out of 20
Appearance: 10 out of 20
Ease of preparation: 10 out of 20
Comments?

"Classic" Deviled Eggs

It hasn't really been 10 days since I tried a new deviled egg recipe. It's just been 10 days since I've had time to post about them.

Today's recipe is "Classic Deviled Eggs." I'm not sure what makes them classic, but they are pretty simple, very basic, and kind of generic. But something didn't add up. The proportion of filling to eggs just wasn't right... and without REALLY skimping, I could only fill 10 of the egg whites. My tasters said they liked this recipe, but they didn't say anything about it being better than a standard deviled egg recipe, so it's just... basic... average... middle-of-the-road... ust like Nebraska football.

If this recipe were more unique, or better-tasting, or ANYTHING other than just basic, I would try to rework the recipe with different amounts of ingredients, to make them correctly fill the 12 egg whites. I will say that the paprika mixed into the filling does make the filling look kind of cool, with a bit of brick color to it. But, frankly, this recipe just isn't good enough to warrant any more effort.

Recipe:

6 hard-boiled eggs

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1. Crumble egg yolks in bowl.

2. Add mayonnaise, mustard, and paprika and combine.

3. Fill egg whites with mixture.

Above: adding the mayonnaise, mustard, and paprika

Above: note that there are only 10 deviled eggs.

Overall: 45 out of 100
Texture: 12 out of 20
Flavor: 5 out of 20
Uniqueness: 3 out of 20
Appearance: 15 out of 20
Ease of preparation: 10 out of 20

Comments?

Green Onion-Dijon Deviled Eggs

Finally! After two disappointing deviled egg recipes, I finally returned to one that people actually want to eat. The sour cream lemon disasters are long-forgotten, and the boring cream cheese deviled eggs are banished to the back of my mind, where I might think of some actually flavorful deviled egg recipe that includes the uniqueness of cream cheese as its base.

But these are very good. The original recipe I used called these "Dijon Deviled Eggs" but the dominant flavor, without a doubt, is the green onion. In fact, the Dijon mustard's lack of presence if the only real drawback to this recipe.

Here is the recipe:

6 hard-boiled eggs
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 green onion, very thinly sliced (slice a little of the green and keep separate from the white)
few leaves of fresh flat-leaf parsley
freshly ground black pepper
salt, to taste
paprika, optional

1. Crumble egg yolks in bowl.
2. Add mayonnaise and Dijon mustard and combine.
3. Stir in white part of the onions and most of the chopped parsley.
4. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
5. Fill egg whites with mixture and sprinkle with green part of onions and remaining parsely.
6. Sprinkle with a little pepper and/or paprika, if desired.

Above: adding the mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, and chopped onions. Also: the final product, after garnished with green part of onion, chopped parsley, and a little pepper and paprika.

Review: these are actually very good, and a little different. Rather than traditional deviled eggs, where the dominant flavor is the mayonnaise or mustard, the dominant flavor here is the onions. The paprika really serves as more of a garnish, and the parsley looks nice but doesn't add much. But these are a little better than the traditional eggs, and pretty easy to make. I think, if making them again, I would add more Dijon mustard so that flavor becomes more notable - it's supposed to be there, I just didn't really taste it much.

Overall: 71 out of 100

Texture: 15 out of 20

Flavor: 12 out of 20

Uniqueness: 13 out of 20

Appearance: 14 out of 20

Ease of preparation: 12 out of 20

Comments?

Cream Cheese Deviled Eggs

First of all, a follow-up to the "Sour Cream, Lemon, and Herb Deviled Eggs" recipe I prepared last week. These are the FIRST deviled egg recipe I have ever tried where I had to actually throw out the product because people wouldn't eat more than one. Perhaps it's because I'm not in a lunchtime garden club.

Now, on the the next recipe: Cream Cheese Deviled Eggs. This recipe reminds me of a classic Match Game episode. These deviled eggs are just "blank." Here is the recipe:

Cream Cheese Deviled Eggs

6 hard-boiled eggs

1/2 block softened cream cheese

sale and pepper to taste

1. Crumble egg yolks in a bowl.

2. Add softened cream cheese (if cream cheese is not soft enough to mix, microwave it for 10 or 15 seconds).

3. Combine yolks and cream cheese and add salt and pepper to taste

4. Fill egg whites with filling.

Above: adding the cream cheese; the finished product

Review: Seriously, these are the most basic recipe ever. Only egg yolks, cream cheese, and a little salt and pepper. However, the texture, because of the cream cheese, is SO different than any recipe I've ever tried. VERY thick - the cream cheese is taking place of the traditional mayonnaise/Miracle Whip/sour cream. I actually was excited while I was making these because I was also making a GREAT new snack-type appetizer that smelled great and was wonderful. (If you want that recipe, e-mail me!) It would be interesting to try a deviled egg recipe that involves cream cheese but ALSO some other flavorful ingredients - maybe mustard, relish, stronger spices, even bacon (of course).

Overall: 40 out of 100

Texture: 8 out of 20 (if only because it's so unique)

Flavor: 2 out of 20

Uniqueness: 10 out of 20

Appearance: 5 out of 20

Ease of preparation: 15 out of 20

Comments?