Deviled Eggs

Makes 12 (a platter of 24 halves) of deviled eggs

Serve cold, cold, cold.  They are more refreshing that way.

INGREDIENTS:

• 12 large eggs
• 1 T. French sea salt
• 3 medium shallots, finely minced
• 2 T. butter
• ½ c. sour cream
• 1/3 c. Hellman’s mayonnaise
• 1/8 t. paprika (or cayenne)
• ¼ c. chives, finely chopped
• zest of 1/3 of a lemon, finely grated
• 2-4 oz. caviar, bacon bits, chives, or celery leaves for garnish (may omit)

INSTRUCTIONS:

I leave my eggs in the carton – and the day before I am going to hard boil them I turn the carton on its side. First, make sure the carton is closed securely and second, be careful because eggs are more likely to crack on their side. (It has to do with Mother Nature protecting the eggs – the shells are harder vertically to protect them when they are laid).  If they are farm fresh, versus store bought, make sure they are at least three weeks old, as that is how you will find them in the store and anything shorter than that will stick to the shell.

1. Place the eggs in a sauce pan and cover with cold water and add one tablespoon of salt. Bring water to a full boil – turn heat down and boil for one minute. Turn off heat and allow eggs to stay in pan for 15 minutes. Rinse eggs in cold water for 5 minutes. Peel the eggs under cold running water.

2. Cut eggs in half lengthwise. Put yolks in a bowl. Put whites on a plate and place in the refrigerator for one hour.

3. Sauté the minced shallots in butter until tender – about 3 minutes. Set aside to cool.

4. Mash yolks with a fork – add sour cream, mayonnaise, 1 ¼ teaspoon salt and the sweet paprika (or cayenne). Whisk until well blended – add sauteed shallots.

5. Neatly fill the whites with yolk mixture using a pastry bag or a resealable plastic bag with the corner snipped off . Sprinkle each with the chopped chives and lemon zest.

6. When ready to serve spoon caviar unto center of the filling mound.  Or omit the caviar and top with bits of crispy bacon and celery leaves with a bit of smoked paprika.

Drizzle with olive oil and a sprinkle of fresh sea salt.

OTHER IDEAS FOR HOMEMADE MAYONNAISE AND DIFFERENT TOPPINGS AND VARIATIONS, from The Picnic, by Slonecker, Andrea , Stevenson, Jen , Hanel, Marnie
Publisher: Workman Pub Co, April, 2015 :