what are your fav flavorings for deviled eggs?

[toodie jane]

just need some quick ideas for an assortment platter for this Sunday. The easier the better.

I was thinking wasabi and jerk, then need some savory (but not hot) suggestions. Would something sweet/sour work? Will also be doing standard plain ones for the traditionalists in the family.

Thank you

[maplesugar]

I enjoy the tried and true traditional deviled eggs, but these will be on my Easter app list this year too: http://dinnerwithjulie.com/2009/02/07...

[bayoucook]

Pretty much a purist too. Mayo, sweet relish, mustard, s&p and a little soft butter.
When I serve them, I top them with a variety of things: crumbled bacon, capers, olives,
dill, toasted almonds, etc. To me, the little bit of butter added just adds to it all.

[berkleybabe]

I make the traditional way...mayo, dry English mustard, but sometimes I "hide" a little something in the cavity...a couple capers, a tsp of chutney, a little piece of bacon. So you get the classic egg but a little surprise at the end.

[beefa]

I had a lot of fun putting canned quail eggs (available in asian markets) in my stovetop smoker for about 25 minutes. Cut them in half and top with a dot of wasabi mayonaise.

[melly]

I was at a party and half the deviled eggs were not eaten. Why? The host put chopped walnuts in them. I didn't like the texture at all and the eggs were a strange color.

I do appreciate the following on top of a deviled egg (but not all at once): bacon, anchovy, chives, paprika, sliced green olive, minced celery, crumbled blue or feta cheese.

[alkapal]

"chopped walnuts "? -- i love walnuts, but can't imagine them being good in egg yolks.

what a waste of deviled eggs. ;-(

[HungryLetsEat]

I know this is scandalous but I grew up eating my mom's deviled eggs made with ::gasp:: Miracle Whip. (Her recipe is simple - yellow mustard, Miracle Whip, salt/pepper topped off with a halved green olive. YUM).

Now I can't enjoy deviled eggs (or egg salad for that matter) any other way. Thanks Mom :-s

[toodie jane]

Great ideas all.

I ended up doing traditional, jerk and smoked herring (my favorite)

Even the little kids ate the jerked ones ("Careful, they're hot" "ooo, I knooooow....!"). I had to add a goodly amount of jerk and pukka sauce for the heat to come through the fat of the yolks and mayo.

[michele cindy]

One other thing I do is, my husband doesn't eat meat, so I add a nice crispy piece of morning star bacon strips on top of the purist version. It's a great alternative for those who don't eat it but once enjoyed real bacon.

[FoodFuser]

A few more:

Grated onion and radish (small reds or daikon), grated on the small teeth of a box grater, then drained of extra juice. Just because you've used daikon doesn't mean you can't also add some mustard/horseradish/wasabi.

While the box grater is out, grate some Dill pickle thru the large holes, then finish with a knife micro-dice. Better mouthfeel than machined-chopped "pickle relish". To balance the dill pickles, add a few drops of sweet pickle juice.

Fish sauce rather than the darker worcestershire, or a pulverized anchovy is even better.

To add bulk to the yolks and allow for overstuffing, add 10-20% medium tofu, pureed with stick blender or potato ricer. The tofu serves as a bridge between the yolk and the mayo. Now you can justify eating 20% more of the final deviled eggs.

For the mayo, sub 20% room softened butter blended with the mayo. Thank you, Candy, for the tip on the butter. Duke's mayo is the stiffest commercial type, thus best for this. Stick-blendered mayo is stiffest for homemade mayo.

Liquid smoke: 3 drops per 6 yolks, worked into the mayo for dispersion. Nutmeg at the tiniest levels.

Yolks: run them thru the potato ricer, or press thru a screen seive.

Add mayo last, after folding in whatever ingredients you are using. Give a minute's rest to let it mix with the drier yolks before adding a little more. It's easy to put in too much.

Eggs: at least a week old, up to three months if well refrigerated; day before prep, or at least a few hours, set all egg cartons on their side to let the yolk find its centered hammock swing via the supporting chalaza; boil from cold water, 1 minute at boil, then off heat; shock the boiled eggs immediately in ice bath for ten minutes; peel, starting at fat end, under a tiny stream of water to lubricate inner membrane removal.

Think diversity: this is one the best culinary enterprises to continually expand throughout a lifetime. After ricing the yolks, split to several batches to make different kinds based on all the wonderful suggestions in this thread. Then add your mayo.

My best personal flavor when I am making a full run of D.E's is to put on my CD of old-time hymns, reserved just for this purpose. It takes me back to those childhood days of "Church Dinners", when we kids would dash down to the cool church basement after the service, where the aproned moms (excused from service attendance) had spread the groaning tables with their best work of family favorites. Table gossip always included clucking comparisons about "So n' So's" deviled eggs. And their pimento cheese, but that's another story...

[joannabar]

Addenda to cooking eggs...FoodFuser left one teeny step out...cold bath start(water not too far above eggs), bring to boil for 1 minute, take off heat AND then cover pot and let it sit for 9 minutes. Continue as FF suggests.
If you only boil it for a minute, you've got a barely boiled egg! Let the eggs have a warm bath for those 9 more minutes and you've got hard-cooked eggs to be proud of.
As for me, I've been using a food processor to mix it all up. I pulse most ingredients very carefully, then spoon mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip, and pipe my now very smooth and light eggs into the whites. They look beautiful and taste even better. I use dijon mustard, sweet or smoked paprika (on top), real mayo and s and p. I've used chives and basil-only a tiny amount of that, and it also brings success, but the "traditional" always disappears within a matter of minutes. I bought a large plastic deviled egg carrier from the "Get Organized" catalog (maybe one like it?). It holds 24 d.e.'s with room for more in the middle, and it has a lid.
Cholesterol be damned!

[garfish]

Instead of lemon juice one time I substituted olive brine, and since I used the brine I topped them with a little dollop of tapanade. I've never gone back. However, I never considered using dijon mustard or horseradish. There is no way those could be bad.

The things you lean here...

[Will Owen]

My mom's were mayo, dry mustard, a dash of vinegar, salt and pepper, paprika on top. I've found that nothing other than Trader Joe's wasabi mayonnaise plus S&P makes very good ones, and if you sprinkle on some Spanish smoked paprika (for both color and flavor) it's a killer combo. Finely-chopped green onion (both green and white) and finely-chopped celery are both splendid additions, no matter what basic recipe you follow. I am SO over curry powder...

[ldkelley]

We like a bit of Sriracha in ours.

[walker]

I just bought a Chill zene (or something) thing from Pampered Chef. It's being discontinued because the price is going up. Can't wait to use it. You chill the middle part in freezer and one side is for deviled eggs, opposite side can be used for dip and veggies. Great idea so you don't have to worry guests will get sick and/or die from your food.

[firecooked]

I'm thinking I need to go boil some egg's. My favorite adder is jalopeno-stuffed green olives, finely chopped. But the bacon sounds yummy...

[tim irvine]

I put a little garam masala or curry powder in my egg salad, and I will bet it would be good in a devilled egg

[Meann]

A friend, whose taste I respect, makes a traditional DE with a gentle lashing of gin. Go figure.

[greygarious]

I use either g.m. or curry powder, plus Old Bay Seasoning, in both egg salad and devilled eggs. With the latter, also both mayo and Miracle Whip, minced scallion, and mustard.

[SweetPhyl]

mayo, mustard, bacon and horseradish. people will fight for them.

[Quine]

Olives, black, truffle oil and curry are flavoes I like to add, not all in one tho'.

[OCEllen]

A little cider or red wine vinegar, some sugar, mayo, coarse ground mustard, prepared horseradish, a sprinkle of paprika, or for spicy, some cayenne.

[Diane in Bexley]

A touch of dijon mustard, snipped chives, very finely minced onions, hint of dillweed and good homemade mayo. My family demands they be dusted with paprika, a visual effect as I don't really think the Szeged mild paprika imparts that much flavor in deviled eggs. We eat these almost every Friday night for a Shabbat dinner appetizer along with gefilte fish or creamed herring. They are yummy for a quick breakfast Saturday morning with a piece of buttered challah bread!

[toodie jane]

SIL has a recipe she tells me uses olive oil in place of mayo--will try that. So many good suggestions I might need to go get more eggs!

Thank you all--and I agree with the pruists here. Nothing is 'better' than a plain devilled egg. Hold the paprika for mine , please.

[hungry_pangolin]

In her otherwise traditional filling, my mother sometimes adds finely ground celery seed. Quite delicious. Smoked paprika is a bit different. And, of course, anything mentioned above.

[roro1831]

Purist here as well, but I had some at a party over last weekend that had horseradish in them, it provided a nice kick to it.
I had some at a restaurant that were made with white truffle oil, caviar and gold leaf. I must say that they were some of the best I've had, but how can you go wrong with the truffle oil.

[feuergeist6]

Been a little hesitant about truffle oil since i read this: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/16/din...

[Nonny]

Finely grated cheddar cheese or pepper jack cheese with small amount of salsa in with a tad of mayo...over the top delish.

[msmarabini]

tuna, mayo, & capers

[beejiewoman]

At Easter, I made a batch with avocado, a little mayo,finely minced cilantro, fresh lime juice and a pinch of ground coriander. I garnished with a cilantro leaf. I served them with El Tapatio for people who wanted some heat. We had a divided crowd, some people loved them and thought they were a stroke of genius, others were revolted because they weren't mayo and mustard plain. I personally thought they were amazing and have made them 3 more times.

[cimui]

that sounds wonderful, beejiewoman. i'm trying this.

[michele cindy]

Old Bay seasoning works well.

[JonParker]

I make mine with Polish mustard, cider vinegar, a dash of Worstershire, anchovy paste, and El Yucateco habanero sauce. You could leave out the last ingredient if you didn't want them spicy.

[Davwud]

Sweet pickle relish.

My SIL's SIL makes them this way (it's a southern thing) and they are the best DE's I've ever had.

DT

[Veggo]

The world loves a deviled egg; I have never seen a leftover at anyone's party.
I like red lumpfish "caviar" as a garnish; slivered anchovy strips, small capers, horseradish, wasabi. I label the ones that are not obvious. Also, cook 20% more eggs and waste or reuse the whites , so you have lots of filler. Oh, and Penzey smoked paprika is killer on the ones you have not allready dressed-for-kill.

[lynnlato]

Glad u asked. I was just pondering this question last night. We went out to dinner and ordered a plate of deviled eggs. I knew it was a mistake after we placed the order. I am a traditionalist when it comes to deviled eggs. The eggs came out and they were gorgeous. Over-stuffed and resting on a bed of shredded red cabbage. But immediately I noticed that they had pickle relish in them - a no, no for moi. They were good, but the relish was a deal-breaker for me.

That said, I don't mind a splash of worcestshire and some finely diced jalapeno. But that's it. Oh, and to really simplify things I have started buying the hard-boiled eggs, just as they do in restos. They are perfectly hard-boiled (no icky green yolks) and all you have to do is slice, mash, mix and stuff. Voila - deviled eggs!

Shameful, eh?

[Chocolatechipkt]

Funny, I like the pickle relish -- just a little, mind you. The ones I had the other night (not made by me), however, I could skip. They included hot dijon mustard, Sriracha, sea salt and various other things and ended up tasting like somewhat strange-flavored salt.

[todao]

Anchovies, artichoke hearts, green or black olives, watercress, garlic, finely diced tomato, sun dried tomato, very finely ground macadamia nuts, peanuts, or pine nuts, mild green chilis, coriander, cumin, saffron ...............

[smtucker]

I am a bit of a purist: mustard, paprika, salt, pepper, mayo.

However, I have enjoyed some of the following: snipped chives, capers, pickles, salmon roe, caviar, red onion

Things I haven't tried but should be good with egg: bacon, feta cheese, smoke salmon, smoked salt, did mention bacon?

[Firegoat]

I agree with the purist take.... I'd be disappointed to come upon a platter and not find at least some just exactly like that.

That said I also agree some yummy crumbly bacon would never be wrong.

[MMRuth]

I've done a lot of those combinations too - I particularly love chives. I recently had some at the Spotted Pig that had lemon juice in the filling and really enjoyed them.

Sometimes I use pimenton instead of paprika.

[lynnlato]

Ooooh, lemon juice sounds good. I love the spotted pig.

[scoopG]

Agree. Want both the purist version, crumbly bacon and lemon juice ones now. I like a version too that calls for mixing shallots, minced cooked shrimp and finely chopped celery with mayo. Think that might be from Mark Bittman. He also has called for just adding an anchovy on the top!

[FoodFuser]

Oh yes, anchovy on top... but politely sectioned into three pieces that are spaced and balanced in a line, to allow for three separate bites of the stuffed egg without having to gnaw the fish.

[WCchopper]

Curry?