By Jenna Hart
From Final Sentence, first in the new
A COOKBOOK NOOK MYSTERY series
by Agatha Award-winning author Daryl Wood Gerber
(aka Avery Aames)
Did you just celebrate Easter or Passover? What do you do with a batch of hardboiled eggs?
Hi, I'm Jenna Hart. After leaving the high-powered world of advertising, I've come home to Crystal Cove. My Aunt Vera, who asked me to help her open a culinary bookshop and café, loves to decorate the shop for just about every theme that might be going on in our town. Surfing contests, Frisbee contests, old vintage car rallies. She also adores decorating for Halloween and Christmas. And it doesn't matter what time of the year, she loves dying Easter eggs. We have over two dozen.
I’m a foodie, but I’m not quite a cook. Understatement of the year, just so you know. A disastrous soup that almost killed my husband (he was allergic to dill, oops) didn’t help me in the confidence department. But now that I’m running The Cookbook Nook and café, I’m willing to learn. My aunt and my good friend, Katie, the new chef at the Nook Café want me to start by making recipes that have five ingredients or less. They say spices don’t count, so my aunt suggested this deviled egg recipe to use up the dyed Easter eggs. It works for me. I love deviled eggs. So easy and tangy. Perfect for an appetizer or lunch, don’t you think? Enjoy!
PS I have to admit that my aunt made the boiled eggs. She gave me all sort of tips about how to make them perfectly, but hot spitting water and me? There's not an oven mitt long enough...yet. Her main tip: Cook the eggs at a full boil and add ice at the end. I'm not sure I can retain all that she told me, though I'm pretty good in the memory department--faces, name, details. I asked for her help in writing down the instructions, just in case. So, see below.
Ingredients:
8 large eggs, hard boiled and peeled
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 teaspoons sweet pickle relish
1 teaspoon prepared mustard
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
Paprika, for garnishing
Sweet gherkin pickles sliced, for garnishing
Directions:
Per my Aunt Vera, to boil eggs perfectly…put cold eggs in a saucepan and add cold water to cover. Bring to a boil (takes about 5-7 minutes). Turn to low and simmer-boil for 15 minutes. Remove from heat. Pour off the hot water. Rinse eggs with cool water. Then add a bath of ice water. [This means adding about 4 cups of ice cubes. I can't tell you how thankful I am for an automatic ice maker.] Let the eggs cool completely (about 20 minutes).
This is where I start the recipe. Peel eggs. Easy! Cut the eggs in half, lengthwise. Using a spoon, remove the yolks and place the yolks in a small bowl.
Mash the yolks with a fork and stir in the mayonnaise. I used Best Foods. Add the pickle relish, mustard, and spices. {Taste test -- one of my favorite things to do. I might not cook well, yet, but I am a foodie. I've tried everything from eel to alligator.}
Fill egg whites with yolk mixture. I like to pile mine high. Garnish with paprika or pickle slices. Store covered in refrigerator.
Note: Katie made me promise I would use the exact measurements or she warned the mixture could get too runny. She’s such a stickler! LOL
As my aunt loves to say about cooking and life...SAVOR THE MYSTERY.
So...what normal chore puts terror in your heart?
Daryl Wood Gerber also writes as Avery Aames,
author of the Agatha Award-winning,
nationally bestselling CHEESE SHOP MYSTERY SERIES
The 1st in A Cookbook Nook Mystery series is coming July 2013!!
FINAL SENTENCE.
You can pre-order the book HERE.
The 4th in A Cheese Shop Mystery series is out!
TO BRIE OR NOT TO BRIE
You can order the book HERE.
You can order the book HERE.
You can learn more about me, Daryl by clicking this LINK. "Like" my page on Facebook and "follow" me on Twitter. And if you haven't done so, sign up for the mailing list
so you can learn about upcoming events, releases, and contests! Also, you probably know by now about my alter ego, Avery Aames. Chat with Avery on Facebook and Twitter.
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Yummm. I loved deviled eggs too. However, I don't like sweet pickles, I'd switch to dill. Delicious.
ReplyAll chores put terror in my heart. It's probably a cross between the 2 things I hate to do the most, but have to do often-wash the dishes (no automatic dishwasher here) and clean the litter boxes.
Katreader...I know what you mean about the dishes. They never seem to go away, right? Yipes.
~Jenna
I hate cleaning the bathroom, but love to vacuum. I can get lost in the sound of it and the lack of other sounds. When I make deviled eggs, I put dill in them...no pickles though. A friend of mine loves my deviled eggs. Her husband loved mine but warned me that he hates dill. So every time he would eat my deviled eggs, we would laugh uncontrollably!!!! Nothing is better than pulling one over on him :) Looking forward to the book and I've already preordered it. ;)
ReplySue, that's so funny. Hiding dill in the eggs. That's sort of like people that don't like tomatoes but they eat pizza or spaghetti with sauce.
Best,
Jenna