Welcome to Cooking Stuff. This is a place where I talk about all things food, cooking, and life. Recipes are back (obviously)! Hit that button below to upgrade to a paid subscription so you don’t miss any. You can find more of me, here.
I have found myself in a bit of a pickle. Every recipe I have been working on, I no longer like. I’m talking about the carrots and couscous I mentioned a few newsletters ago. Spring pasta salad isn't coming together the way I envisioned. Chicken with leeks and peas is good but I don’t like the order of steps in the recipe. This pickle I’m currently in makes this newsletter that you are reading right now a challenge to put together.
You know what I do like? Deviled eggs!
I do, I love them and I had no intention of sending this recipe out. I felt embarrassed about how much I liked them but the response I got on Instagram showed me that we all love them. So let’s make some really good deviled eggs.
When I used to do daily cooking videos on Instagram I was frequently asked about how I peel eggs. I never answered it because in my mind I thought you smack it on the counter and pull back the shell, duh? But I learned that a lot of people struggle with the shell sticking. We have all been there before when it breaks into a million pieces but won’t come off. You peel them one by one as carefully as you can until you give up and rip them all off along with a layer of cooked whites. It sucks and it especially sucks because you lose a good chunk of egg.
I never have this problem and I believe it is in part due to the way I cook them:
Eggs straight from the fridge go into boiling water for 12 minutes.
After 12 minutes they go straight into an ice bath for 5+ minutes.
That’s it. No special method or secrets. I did a little research. Starting them in hot water helps by preventing the whites from attaching to the membrane. An ice bath helps stop the cooking to prevent overcooking. Truthfully I haven’t done a ton of experiments here, I’m not an expert, but I really never have a problem peeling them. Maybe try this method next time!?
Once those eggs are boiled it is time to devil. I have very specific instructions for you here because I am picky about my deviled eggs.
Slice the eggs in half and add the yolks to a bowl. Add mayonnaise, yellow mustard, paprika, and salt. Mix the yolks until they are as smooth as possible. They will never be perfect but we want as little clumps of yolk as possible. This is just a personal preference but trust me you want it smooth too. Mixing the yolks on their own before we add the larger items helps with this.
Now to contradict myself – texture is absolutely necessary in a deviled egg. There must be some crunch. Hello celery!