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Cook the Book: 14 Ways with Deviled Eggs

Posted by Michele Humes, December 8, 2008 at 2:15 PM

Photo from kirinqueen on Flickr

Today's Cook the Book recipe, excerpted from the revised, tenth anniversary edition of How to Cook Everything, is classic Bittman. A lesser writer might take five pages to give you the 14 deviled egg variations listed here; a more possessive one might insist that only his recipe is authoritative. Instead, in a couple of paragraphs, Mark Bittman not only provides enough variations for a two-week deviled egg cycle but eggs you ongives you the confidence to come up with a 15th and 16th on your own.

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Deviled Eggs

- makes 4 servings -
Adapted from How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman

Ingredients

4 hard-boiled eggs
Salt
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard, or to taste
1/4 teaspoon cayenne, or to taste
Paprika or fresh parsley leaves for garnish

Procedure

1. Cool the eggs, peel them, cut them in half lengthwise, and carefully remove the yolks.

2. Mash the yolks with some salt and the mayonnaise, mustard, and cayenne. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Spoon the filling back into the whites. (If you are making a lot of deviled eggs and want them to be especially attractive, use a pastry bag to pipe them back into the whites.)

3. Sprinkle with paprika and serve or cover and chill, well wrapped, for up to 1 day before serving.

14 Tasty Additions to Deviled Eggs:

1. Chopped cooked shrimp, lobster, or crabmeat (excellent with chopped tarragon)

2. Finely crumbled chorizo or other spicy sausage

3. Crumbled bacon

4. Avocado bits

5. Bits of dried tomato

6. Finely chopped olives, capers, or gherkins

7. Lightly cooked spinach or watercress, squeezed dry and finely chopped

8. Finely grated or crumbled cheese--the stronger the better--like Parmesan, feta, or manchego

9. Horseradish or wasabi

10. Any miso

11. Any pesto or salsa

12. Grainy mustard

13. Cooked corn kernels (especially pan-grilled)

14. Finely chopped red bell pepper (raw or roasted and peeled)

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Tags: appetizers, Cook the Book, deviled eggs, eggs, Holiday entertaining, hors d'oeuvres, How to Cook Everything, Mark Bittman, Super Bowl appetizers