Deviled Egg Recipes

There seems to be as million ways to make good ole’ deviled eggs. My friend Mary Edwards posted a photo of her deviled eggs on Facebook and they looked so creamy and tasty I asked about her recipe. She says she has never measured and her ritual is something like this:

I had ten eggs here - so I whipped the egg yolks with a good amount of mayo - about 4 generous tablespoons - a couple of generous tablespoons of whole grain Dijon mustard, a little seasoned salt, a little sugar (about 1 teaspoon), about 2 teaspoons of Coleman's mustard, and a couple of cap fulls of apple cider vinegar - and then I finish with a dusting of more seasoned salt & cayenne pepper.

This is a vintage cooking style at its best.

No rules needed with the deviled egg ingredients; it’s a free-handed eyeball kinda thing. I must admit I’ve been a little carried away with my own deviled eggs over the years, even pickling them first and always adding Bread & Butter pickle juice. Ok, and a little horseradish too! No matter how you mix em’, the most important element of deviled eggs, is how you hard-boil them. If the yolks are coated with a gray or green ring, the filling of the deviled eggs will turn out unsightly. A perfect boiled egg yields a bright yellow and chalky yolk. No, you really shouldn’t just throw them in a pot, watch a little TV and get back to them.

Tip* Buy your eggs two weeks before Easter and the shells will peel off more smoothly. (Yes, old eggs separate from the shell easier.) Peel them under the cold running water. Julia Child has a specific method, but my simple version is this:

1. Place your eggs in a sauce pan and cover with cold water, (just to cover-don’t fill the whole pot up.)
2. Bring to a rapid-rolling boil, and set the timer for one minute from that point. Slide the pot over to the cold burner and place the tight fitting lid on the pot. Set the timer for 20 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, make a big bowl of ice water. When the timer goes off, with a slotted spoon, scoop the eggs into the ice bath. Let them chill there until ready to peel or refrigerate.

If you like to cook by the book, here is a simple recipe from Farm Journal’s Country Cookbook, 1972.

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After church and lunch the day seemed to slip away from us. Since the girls are a bit older now, we decided to do a “Sunset Easter Egg Hunt.” Has anyone ever done that before? I don’t know but we got some flashlights, filled the rainbow of plastic eggs with coins and dollars, played some Peter Cottontail music and set the girls into a treasure hunt. They loved it!