Now I made some deviled eggs yesterday and everyone who ever tries them, including me, can't help eating several because that combination of flavors is just addictive. Once, I used them to get me through the first day of phase one of the Atkins diet so that I could easily stay on the low carb regimen and enjoy it, too. I just had another egg whenever I wanted anything! Worked great! I have tasted all kinds of deviled eggs, finding most of them downright awful-tasting, due usually, to a misguided idea that they need a bunch of mustard in them. No, they do not. They will taste fine with no mustard at all, but, I like to add a little to jazz them up some.
First of all, hard boil however many eggs you want. Let's say, 1 dozen eggs. There are different ways to hard boil an egg, use what works for you. Paula Deen had a great tip: put a 1/4 cup or more of cheap salt in the water you boil the eggs in and they peel very easily for me. These days, I think the egg shells are just not healthy enough to be easy to peel. When I use organic, free-range eggs, they are pretty easy to peel. Also, I find that they are easy to peel if not super fresh and if you run cold water over them immediately after the cooking time ends, then tap them and peel them under cool, running water right away. That quick transition from hot to cold seems to help the peel slip right off. Tap it and carefully begin breaking off pieces of the peel. If you leave them soaking in cold water as I had to do yesterday, they become very difficult to peel without taking half the cooked egg white off. How you boil them is important to the ease with which they peel. Martha Stewart advises you place eggs in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil, then cover pan and remove from heat. Let set for 15 minutes, then rinse with cold water and peel. I used that method yesterday and as usually happens, the yolks did not get really hard cooked, but they still blended "pretty" well with the Miracle Whip, etc. and tasted great so it was ok. I have since used that method, but, I cover the eggs and leave them on the hot burner and just turn the burner off and let them set a little longer, maybe. I found they peel even better if I add a lot of ice to the cold water I set them in after rinsing in cold water.
I have been boiling and eating hard-boiled eggs since childhood and they always tasted pretty good. I have always just put the eggs in a saucepan, covered them with cold water, brought them to a boil, turned the heat down just a little and let them continue boiling 8 to 12 minutes depending on how hard I wanted them. This works fine, but, they tend to get overcooked more easily. The other way of cooking them does produce a more tender egg, though, with no greenish discoloring due to over-cooking. See what works best for you.
When the eggs are peeled and cooled a little, cut them in half with a sharp knife. Pop the yolk out into a bowl. Place the egg half on a plate. When all the yolks are in the bowl, mash them with a fork until evenly mashed. I suspect you could use a blender or food processor to get them really smooth, but I never have. Stir in just enough Miracle Whip or Mayonaise (start with a 1/3 cup) to make a smooth mixture. Add about a 1/4 or 1/2 teaspoon of mustard, to taste and add some sugar (start with 1 tablespoon) or Sweet N Low (about 1/4 teaspoon or a little more) to sweeten a little. You can add 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon or so of apple cider vinegar if you want to add a little zip, but, I don't usually. Mix until smooth and until the mixture tastes the way you want it, then spoon or pipe about 3/4 of a tablespoon into each egg half. They keep 2-3 days in the fridge. My mother taught me to make these and she always sprinkled a little bit of paprika on top of each egg. I seldom bother, but, it does look nice.
As I said, these are great for getting started on a low-carb diet because you can eat as many as you want and stay full without thinking about what to eat. The low carb way to make these is the same, just use Mayonaise instead of Miracle Whip and Sweet N Low instead of sugar. Or, you can make more savory (non-sweet) deviled eggs by just adding Mayonaise, no sweetner, and maybe a little mustard, also good. I like both kinds. You can also put the yolk mixture into a small ziplock bag and snip the point off to pipe the yolk mixture into the eggs if you want a fancier-looking egg and even add little flags or other decorations, for holidays like July 4th, etc. I entered a deviled egg contest once and the variety of deviled eggs was unbelievable! All kinds, some really super decorated and professional-looking, with all kinds of ingredients and flavors. Really, they were all good, so get creative!
Some people like to add diced dill pickle, or sweet pickle, onion, fresh dill weed, chives, etc. Try what sounds good to you. I like my recipe best but also enjoy the other types of deviled eggs.
First of all, hard boil however many eggs you want. Let's say, 1 dozen eggs. There are different ways to hard boil an egg, use what works for you. Paula Deen had a great tip: put a 1/4 cup or more of cheap salt in the water you boil the eggs in and they peel very easily for me. These days, I think the egg shells are just not healthy enough to be easy to peel. When I use organic, free-range eggs, they are pretty easy to peel. Also, I find that they are easy to peel if not super fresh and if you run cold water over them immediately after the cooking time ends, then tap them and peel them under cool, running water right away. That quick transition from hot to cold seems to help the peel slip right off. Tap it and carefully begin breaking off pieces of the peel. If you leave them soaking in cold water as I had to do yesterday, they become very difficult to peel without taking half the cooked egg white off. How you boil them is important to the ease with which they peel. Martha Stewart advises you place eggs in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil, then cover pan and remove from heat. Let set for 15 minutes, then rinse with cold water and peel. I used that method yesterday and as usually happens, the yolks did not get really hard cooked, but they still blended "pretty" well with the Miracle Whip, etc. and tasted great so it was ok. I have since used that method, but, I cover the eggs and leave them on the hot burner and just turn the burner off and let them set a little longer, maybe. I found they peel even better if I add a lot of ice to the cold water I set them in after rinsing in cold water.
I have been boiling and eating hard-boiled eggs since childhood and they always tasted pretty good. I have always just put the eggs in a saucepan, covered them with cold water, brought them to a boil, turned the heat down just a little and let them continue boiling 8 to 12 minutes depending on how hard I wanted them. This works fine, but, they tend to get overcooked more easily. The other way of cooking them does produce a more tender egg, though, with no greenish discoloring due to over-cooking. See what works best for you.
When the eggs are peeled and cooled a little, cut them in half with a sharp knife. Pop the yolk out into a bowl. Place the egg half on a plate. When all the yolks are in the bowl, mash them with a fork until evenly mashed. I suspect you could use a blender or food processor to get them really smooth, but I never have. Stir in just enough Miracle Whip or Mayonaise (start with a 1/3 cup) to make a smooth mixture. Add about a 1/4 or 1/2 teaspoon of mustard, to taste and add some sugar (start with 1 tablespoon) or Sweet N Low (about 1/4 teaspoon or a little more) to sweeten a little. You can add 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon or so of apple cider vinegar if you want to add a little zip, but, I don't usually. Mix until smooth and until the mixture tastes the way you want it, then spoon or pipe about 3/4 of a tablespoon into each egg half. They keep 2-3 days in the fridge. My mother taught me to make these and she always sprinkled a little bit of paprika on top of each egg. I seldom bother, but, it does look nice.
As I said, these are great for getting started on a low-carb diet because you can eat as many as you want and stay full without thinking about what to eat. The low carb way to make these is the same, just use Mayonaise instead of Miracle Whip and Sweet N Low instead of sugar. Or, you can make more savory (non-sweet) deviled eggs by just adding Mayonaise, no sweetner, and maybe a little mustard, also good. I like both kinds. You can also put the yolk mixture into a small ziplock bag and snip the point off to pipe the yolk mixture into the eggs if you want a fancier-looking egg and even add little flags or other decorations, for holidays like July 4th, etc. I entered a deviled egg contest once and the variety of deviled eggs was unbelievable! All kinds, some really super decorated and professional-looking, with all kinds of ingredients and flavors. Really, they were all good, so get creative!
Some people like to add diced dill pickle, or sweet pickle, onion, fresh dill weed, chives, etc. Try what sounds good to you. I like my recipe best but also enjoy the other types of deviled eggs.
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