Deviled Eggs

Over time, I have seen many ugly conversations among friends about who can conjure the best deviled eggs.  In fact, I once found myself in a contest with others over this very topic.  The result was that the other party-goers (aka judges) decided that MY deviled eggs were "something else" and could not be compared with the other deviled eggs.  Fine, fine.  By mid-evening, my deviled egg tray was the only tray completely void of eggs.  I think we know who won here.

The key to our family's deviled eggs is a salad dressing that pre-dates Grandma Dora.  It's really delicious but I cannot remember Mom or Granny using it in anything other than deviled eggs.  I used it once in a cabbage slaw, and it was good, but I kept craving deviled eggs.  According to Mom, Grandma Dora would drizzle the dressing on lettuce in the summertime.

Momma's handwriting.  Be ready to "stir & stir."

Growing up, we always had deviled eggs with ham.  We had them on Christmas Eve this year because my very Catholic sister opted to have ham for dinner that night rather than the fish or seafood that I generally have.  This year was very in line with what we had growing up as my mother held no Christmas eve dinner traditions - generally because she was still rushing to ensure she was ready for Christmas!  Since ham was on the menu, deviled eggs were a "must."

Not quite traditional method of making the dressing.

As the recipe shows, there is usually a lot of stirring between each step.  Also, a hunk on butter was added at the end.  (When Granny made it, the butter was melted and added.)  As you can see, my sister and I just dumped everything in and stirred. 

With apple cider vinegar added.

When we felt the egg and sugar were somewhat mixed, we added the vinegar, salt, and dried mustard.  And we stirred it a bit as we placed it on the double boiler.

It's really helpful to have a whisk.

  My father has given away about every useful cooking utensil in the house, so we stirred and stirred.  Still, it was hard to bust up the mustard lumps.

Stir, stir, stir.

We used the side of the pan to break up the mustard clumps.  The egg, sugar, and vinegar are starting to congeal a bit.  The butter is softening.  When I first made this dressing, this was the point where I was questioning whether it will turn out.

All smooth!

Suddenly, the dressing gets smooth as the butter mixes in and takes on a pretty lemony color.  Keep stirring until the consistency is uniformly thickened.  My sister hard-boiled the eggs.  (I do mine a different way but, since she peeled them, I did not complain!)  It was at this point we were giggling.  Both of us use beaters on the hard-cooked egg yolks and dressing to make the filling for the deviled eggs fluffy.

Fluffy filling!

The reason for the giggles was she was regaling a conversation with Mom that went something like this.

Mom: I just stir the dressing in with a fork. 
Sandy: I use beaters on mine.
Mom: I think a fork works fine. 
Sandy: I like using the beaters.
Mom (a bit later): How did you get your filling so fluffy?
Sandy: I use beaters.

Okay, I'm giggling again.  You would just have to know our mother.  (Well-played, Sandy.  Well-played.) 

Use a fork and fingers to fill.

There is no magical ratio on the yolks verses dressing.  We both add enough until the filling is creamy with a fair bit of stiffness and the flavor tastes right to us.  Then we fill the eggs with filling that is SO GOOD that it disqualifies you from a deviled egg contest by your egg-devouring friends!  There is no such thing as leftover filling.  Find eggs that need more and fill them.

All ready for dinner!

Sprinkle lightly with paprika to give a bit of color.  Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator until dinner.  These last several days in the refrigerator.  The dressing can last a month of more in a tightly sealed jar.

When using the rest of the dressing, it is tempting to use more dressing as it will be very thick but go cautiously.  The dressing thins out a bit as it warms. 

While I know that Grandma Dora made this, I would wager the recipe goes back to her mother or grandmother.  Everyone had chickens so eggs were often on the table in those days back when.  If my homeowner's association would let me have chickens, I'd likely have them more often too!