Trying to decide what to bring to a barbeque this Memorial Day weekend? Problem solved.
I went into Epicurious for a day of Easter and Passover recipe testing last year and we dyed eggs naturally in different pickling liquids. Red beets for pink, golden for yellow, cabbage for purple and carrots for orange. The colors were gorgeous and I loved the flavor the pickling liquid added to simple hard boiled eggs. I decided to devil some this past Easter to take the recipe to another level. So good.
You may notice the color of the filling in my deviled eggs is a richer yellow than those you’ve had in the past. The simple reason is that I use less mayonnaise. I prefer the yolk flavor to stand out more. It’s also healthier. The standard deviled egg recipe calls for 1/2 cup of mayo. I used 1/3. However, feel free to adjust accordingly to suit your taste.
Note: Hard boiled eggs seem like the easy part but they can be a bit tricky. The first step is cooking them correctly. I used this method including the part at the end where you pour the water out and shake the eggs against each other to crack the shells. I then used the back of a spoon to peel them off. Here is one more tip: Use older eggs if you have them. They separate from the eggs much easier than those of newer eggs.
- 2 cups distilled white vinegar
- 1½ tbsp kosher salt
- 1½ tbsp sugar
- 1 bay leaf
- whole peppercorns (about 10-12)
- 1 large or 2 small cooked red beets, quartered (I used Love Beets found in the grocery store)
- 1 dozen hard boiled eggs
- ⅓ cup mayonnaise
- 2 tsp dijon mustard
- 2 tbsp chopped chives, plus more for garnish
- ¼ tsp paprika, plus more for garnish
- kosher salt and pepper to taste
- Add 2 cups water, vinegar, salt, sugar, bayleaf and peppercorns to a medium saucepan per medium heat until sugar and salt are dissolved. Remove from heat and add beet pieces. Place hard boiled eggs in a large shallow container and pour pickling liquid over, ensure each egg is fully submersed (if they aren't, change your container to make sure they are). Place in the refrigerator overnight (12-24 hours).
- Slice eggs in ½, remove yolks into a medium bowl and place whites on a serving tray, cut side up. Add remaining ingredients to bowl with yolks and whisk until fully incorporated. Transfer mixture into a piping bag with large start attachment or a ziplock bag and pipe into egg whites with swirling motion.
