Tuesday, February 09, 2016

Devilled Eggs are So Easy!


Last Christmas, my sweetest girlfriends of 8 years here in Hong Kong, now are dedicated beautiful moms, had come up with the most fabulous idea to have a breakfast themed gathering to take advantage of the cold weather. So we all thought of hot chocolates, aromatic coffee, breakfast casserole and pancakes.

Who wouldn't want breakfast 24/7?

And to give justice to it, we have set the dress code to pyjamas or anything that we're comfortable to lounge with. In the name of comfort, so be it for a onesie for me. Our kids were dressed up in matching snuggly sweat shirts and sweat pants. 

TAPSILOG
But what I was excited mostly about was the food!!!

Anything breakfast-ish? NO DOUBT, I love it!

And since I was on vacation, no hassles in between, I was able to try making deviled eggs. I love these sinful s'mores myself so I have decided to match my stir fry beef in attempt to share a Filipino breakfast favourite called TAPSILOG (that stands for tapa, sinangag and itlog) along with it. "Tapa" is what we called dried beef caramelised with garlic, brown sugar, salt and pepper. "Sinangag" is fried rice with garlic and salt and "itlog" is our  Tagalog term for "eggs". Breakfast always involves eggs so I kind of innovated the two. I have changed something here and there but it was guaranteed that it turned out fine.

With my intent to create cash-flow on the side and to cater to the foodie in me, I sell out some of the dishes I make just to lay out a variety of choices for the people at work. And one of the most in demand were my deviled eggs.
Here's the thing, I am sharing a gluten free recipe that I researched in Pinterest. You have to understand that it is relatively easy. Preparation time is 20-30minutes. And the ingredients are fairly common. This is a new go-to recipe for me if potlucks are on schedule. Well, here it goes:


1. Make sure your ingredients are complete. This allows realisations to come in whether you have enough or not and whether your mayonnaise and mustard are still good and not expired. These make 12 servings. Just make the necessary adjustments as per ratio if you wish to serve more or less:

6 egg yolks
6 eggs
1 tbsp Dijon Mustard
4 tbsp good quality Mayonnaise
3 slices of Bacon, cooked and chopped
1 tbsp Spring Onion
1 tsp Salt
Salt and Pepper (to taste
according to how salty or spicy you want it to be)
Water
Ice Cubes

2. Make sure your sink is clean and tidy. I hate it when the sink has dirty dishes in it when I start to work on something. Also, tie up your hair if you must and make sure your hands are clean and your nails are groomed because you will be handling your food in mixing ingredients together.

3. Hard boil your eggs for 15 minutes above all tasks. Now, the secret in boiling your eggs to perfection is counting from the moment the water boils from 10-15 minutes. Don't time it at the moment you put the stove on. It has to be specifically on the boiling moment. Once you've set your eggs to boil, you can start cooking your bacon.

4. Cook your bacon until crisp and a little toasted. Set aside after on a paper towel to dry it of excess oil.

5. Your eggs are cooked by this time accordingly. Put them in a strainer to drain excess water. Have your bowl of iced water ready for them. After draining them from the boiling water, immediately put them in a the bowl of iced water and let it sit there for a good 5 minutes.

6. Chop your bacons into bits and the spring onion. This is for garnishing later.

Note: It is important for you to use your time wisely as you wait. You can follow any sequence whichever works for you but of course, just don't miss a step.

The egg yolks come out fully and easily when pinching the egg white
somewhat allowing to bounce the egg yolk out like this.
7. Remove the shells of the boiled eggs. You would notice that it's easier after submerging them in cold water. This will save you more time if you're working on a lot of eggs.

8. Prepare your eggs. Now we're ready to start the actual recipe. Cut the eggs in half with a sharp fine toothed knife. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites by slightly squeezing and pushing it out. This should be relatively easy leaving only minute remains like this illustration below. Be careful not to break the egg whites since they will be holding a much rich filling later on. Mash your egg yolks to make the filling more of a puree like consistency. The least that you would want is to have lumpy filling.
It's ok to have little bits remaining like this.
The important thing is to preserve the egg white to be able
to hold the filling.

9. Mix the remaining ingredients. Put the mustard, the mayonnaise and the egg yolks altogether. Personally, I don't like too much salt, Taking into consideration the bacon, since it's already salty, lay low a little bit on adding the salt. Mustard is also rich in sodium. So you don't want to overload on it just by eating the deviled eggs. Some mix the bacon to the filling but I prefer using it for garnishing. Ready your piping materials for ease in filling the egg whites with the mixed ingredients.


10. Fill the egg whites. It is important not to put too little and not to put too much on the egg whites. For presentation's sake, make sure you present it in its bite size so don't overdo your deviled eggs with garnishing.  An explosive experience awaits as the taste tester realises the spring onion's power over each half an egg.

This was my first attempt before I learned of the spring onion treat.
But it's much much better with an additional garnish of the greens on top.
It becomes exquisite, balanced and a little bit of green always bring out the best in s'mores.

There you have it folks! Try this at home before you bring a plate at a potluck. Don't be afraid to take out something that you know doesn't work for you in the whole recipe. I know I added the spring onion garnish on the recipe that I followed and that actually adds up to a more personal touch. Explore yours. Be creative!

Related posts:
1. MREANDMISST EXPERIENCE THRU PLATE CULTURE - this was such a great experience dining in with superb chefs in their own rooftops.
2. 10 COMMANDMENTS OF SNACKING - Yes there is these 10 that you ought to know!
3. PRODUCTS I LOVE - Here are some of the skin products that contain food for the skin in its contents.

No comments:

Post a Comment