Devilish Eggs

“She can’t even boil an egg!” was a good description of my cooking abilities when I first married. My husband was more accomplished than I but promptly quit using his culinary skills the moment he taught me to make white sauce. Zoom forward 50 years and he has recently acquired a few new cooking specialties - steaks, roasts and BBQ’d ribs, which gives me an occasional rest from the challenging and never ending reality of meal planning and preparation.

Living a goodly distance from any restaurant with a cuisine more varied than a deluxe burger, this daily chore seldom sees any break in routine. But, being resourceful folk out here in the boonies we solved the lack of worthwhile nearby restaurants by frequently engaging in a marvelous activity known as the “pot-luck supper”. Pot-lucks are always a treat. Each family simply contributes whatever they wish - an entree, a dessert, a salad, a specialty of their house - and somehow the variety of culinary delights always seems to balance perfectly. Pot-lucks provide a huge variety of foods to choose from, a good visit with the neighbors, a shared clean-up and a wonderful meal that someone else cooked!

Some cooks have a tendency to bring the same dish to nearly every pot-luck. One of my friends brings “death by chocolate”, another brings quiche, another perogies. Me - I bring deviled eggs. You would think, after all these years of practice, that making deviled eggs would be a snap, and, with the exception of getting those devilish eggs peeled, it is. But getting a hard boiled egg to release its shell easily can be a frustrating experience. 

Everyone has a favorite never-fail method for doing this and I’ve tried many of them. Trouble is many of the never-fail methods failed. But now, thanks to my old Fanny Farmer cook book which I got as a wedding present in 1967, I have finally mastered the hard boiled egg... usually. Cover eggs with cold water (make a couple extra just in case), bring to a boil then simmer, covered, for 12-15 minutes. Remove from heat and immediately add cold water to the pot. Run cold water on the eggs until you can touch them, dry them off, return them to your egg carton and refrigerate overnight. Next day they peel just fine. I’ve tried this with farm fresh eggs and store bought eggs too. This has been working consistently for me for quite a while.

There’s a lot of room for experiment in the filling department but I usually smash the yolks until fairly fine, then add mayonnaise, a few squeezes of French’s mustard (hey, it’s made in Canada!), about 1/4 cup of diced onion, 1/4 cup of diced sweet pickles (home made), and a shake or two of Montreal Steak spice. I fill the eggs as full as I can then top them off with a sprinkling of paprika.

Note: It’s probably not a good idea to let your husband carry the eggs for you. He may not realize they have to be carried in an upright position. Not following this maxim could cause a devilish amount of havoc for you and your deviled eggs.