Deviled Eggs

Well, eggs have been sitting in my fridge for awhile.

I hadn't realized how difficult it is for me to use a whole thing of eggs when I am not baking much.  I pretty much only use eggs to make a casserole or a dessert, and I haven't done much of either.  With the heat, casseroles aren't very appealing.  I might be using some of those eggs for a Fourth of July treat (tbd) but I wanted to get rid of some of them.

The perfect use? DEVILED EGGS! I love deviled eggs.  While I admit they do make a perfectly impractible lunch item, they are so delicious I couldn't pass it up.  However, if you have ever noticed, there are so many different deviled egg recipes out there.

I decided to go with the recipe from July 2011 Glamour, the one with Blake Lively on the front.  It is a feature of "The Ultimate Summer Comfort Food," prepard by the chefs from the new movie, The Help. The recipes together would make a pretty excellent dinner: fried chicken, deviled eggs, sweet tea, black eyed peas and spinach salad, with a pineapple upside down cake for dessert.  I do not like frying chicken, and I can't stomach putting two cups of sugar in a pitcher of tea, but I definitely want to try the salad and potentially make the cake, if the right event came along.

Anyway, the focus of this post: the deviled eggs.  This recipe makes twelve pieces and is by Lee Ann Flemming.

6 eggs
1/2 cup mayonaise
1 tsp mustard
2 tsp sweet pickle relish
paprika
pimento-stuff green olives, cut in half (I went without the olives; didn't feel like spending more money on something that fancy when normal eggs are just fine with me!)

1. Put the eggs in a single layer in a pot and add enough cold water to cover them.  Bring the water to a rapid boil over high heat (be careful if there are bits of food/liquid on your burner...high heat always makes mine smoke if the stuff doesn't have a chance to burn off slowly).  Remove the pot from heat, cover, and let stand fifteen minutes.  Drain the hot water and replace with cold water.  When the eggs are cool, peel, cut in half, and remove the yolks.  OBVIOUSLY save the egg whites!

2. Mash the yolks with a fork and add the mayo/relish/mustard.

3. Spoon the mixture into the egg whites and garnish with paprika and olives (again -- I didn't use olives).

So there you have it...a super simple recipe for a super delicious appetizer.  I didn't take pictures because I only did the dirty work tonight.  I hate peeling the eggs, so I did it tonight.  Tomorrow morning I'll put it together.

So now down to the nitty gritty.  What do you do to make your deviled eggs just right?

Tips around the internet include:

• Use eggs that are near their expiration date - easier to peel (I just tried this and didn't find it true...)
• Center the yolks in the egg by turning the eggs on their side in the refridgerator the night before you cook them
• Use room temperature eggs (they cook one minute faster)
• Cooking times that range from 15 to 20 minutes