In any emergency, my mother boiled eggs. She boiled eggs anytime she thought there might be visitors — for any reason, weddings, funerals, someone is in the hospital, or someone having a baby. In fact, that was the 1st thing she did, even before calling people. Put the eggs on to boil.
My mom was used to feeding a crowd with very little notice. I grew up in a family of 12 children, 8 older brothers, then me, and a younger brother and twin sisters. She knew how to feed a crowd!
So why boil eggs, you ask. Because you can feed a crowd very inexpensively with a potato salad, you can make a quick pea salad, egg salad sandwiches, a mixed green salad with eggs, a macaroni salad or the classic deviled eggs.
After some experimentation, since mom didn’t really measure anything, I’ve come up with this classic deviled eggs recipe that is pretty close to hers.
Dedicated to my mom — Marie.
- 6 Boiled Eggs
- 4 TBSP Salad Dressing or Mayo
- 1 TSP White Vinegar
- 2 TSP White Sugar
- 1 TSP Yellow Table Mustard
- A pinch of salt to taste
- Boil eggs using your favorite method. Mine are fresh eggs from our chickens, so I put mine in boiling water for 10 minutes and then cool immediately in the fridge. Boiling eggs seems to be kind of controversial -- so do what works best for you.
- After eggs are cool, peel and using a sharp knife gently slice open lengthwise. You can cut through the yoke cutting the whole egg in half or if you are fussy you can slice all around the yoke and gentle remove. Set aside your egg whites to fill later, and put the yolks in a small bowl.
- To make the filling, smash the egg yolks until most of the lumps are gone or very small-- I like to do it with a fork. Add dressing or mayo, mix well. Add remaining ingredients, except salt, and mix again until you have a nice pretty smooth mixture. Because the size of your egg may be different than mine, you may want to add a touch more Mayo or dressing if it is too stiff. Add salt to taste.
- There are all sorts of, as my mom liked to say, fancy ways to fill your eggs. I kind of like that rustic, homemade look (then they know I didn't buy them at the store)...so I just take a teaspoon and fill each with about ½ of tsp of the egg filling. No real science here...but I am a little stingy at the beginning to make sure I have enough for all of the whites and then go back to top off with the extra.
- There are all sorts of, as my mom liked to say, fancy ways to fill your eggs. I kind of like that rustic, homemade look (then they know I didn't buy them at the store)...so I just take a teaspoon and fill each with about ½ of tsp of the egg filling. No real science here...but I am a little stingy at the beginning to make sure I have enough for all of the whites and then go back to top off with the extra.
- Garnish as desired -- I'm old fashioned and like just a sprinkle paprika.
- Classic Deviled Eggs make a great pallet for fun variations -- add a pinch of dill, top with just about anything you can think of from smoked salmon or caviar to pepperoni or pulled pork. Have fun and enjoy!
Now I’m hungry for a hard boiled egg with some paprika!
I’m always looking for the perfect egg recipe so I’ll be giving these a try!!