Crunchy deviled eggs?

October 29, 2006 1:37 PM

What makes crunchy deviled eggs crunchy? Alternatively, give me good deviled egg recipes. (Quick! The water's almost boiling!)

I'm almost sure my favorite deviled egg recipe was made with dill pickles, but I can't find any recipes online that match that. Am I probably wrong?

posted by anonymoose to Food & Drink (25 answers total)

It's probably sweet relish.
posted by crunchland at 1:45 PM on October 29, 2006

chopped shallots?
posted by trip and a half at 1:49 PM on October 29, 2006

Best answer: Whole mustard seeds.
posted by The White Hat at 1:51 PM on October 29, 2006

Response by poster: crunchland: Possible..does the end product add more of a sweetness or more of a tang? The eggs I'm trying to recreate were savory and tangy..
White Hat: That's not it, and it's an awesome idea
posted by anonymoose at 1:56 PM on October 29, 2006

[my] Mom says:
hard boil eggs, cut in half & scoop out yolks
mix in miracle whip, salt to taste, a bit of sugar & some paprika to colour. For crunchiness try chopped green onion or minced celery.
posted by sunshinesky at 2:14 PM on October 29, 2006

To the recipe above, I'd add sprinkling paprika on half, and dill on the other half. It's not only slightly asthetic but each flavor goes well w/ eggs. You can't really go wrong w/ deviled eggs in any case.
posted by artifarce at 2:29 PM on October 29, 2006

I made Devilled Alien Eggs for my Halloween Party this year. Other than the food colouring, it was the basic devilled egg recipe from my Better Homes & Gardens cookbook. Mash yolks, add (good) mayonnaise, a bit of white vinegar, some mustard powder, salt and pepper to taste. Even though they looked disgusting, they still flew off the table.
posted by web-goddess at 2:39 PM on October 29, 2006

Those are awesome, web-goddess!

Were the whites dyed in the shell, or out? (I don't even want to know what happened to the yolks.)
posted by trip and a half at 2:58 PM on October 29, 2006

Best answer: I've put dill relish in deviled eggs.
posted by donajo at 3:06 PM on October 29, 2006

My grandmother always boiled more eggs than she needed, and used just the yolks of the extra eggs. This makes your deviled eggs fuller than they would be otherwise.
posted by Nathanial Hörnblowér at 3:09 PM on October 29, 2006

Best answer: I boiled them as normal, then cracked them gently all over with the back of a spoon. Then I put them in a tub of water with blue food colouring overnight. This is what they looked like when I finally peeled them. Neat, huh?
posted by web-goddess at 3:25 PM on October 29, 2006

Egg shell.
posted by thirteenkiller at 3:42 PM on October 29, 2006

I was going to say "Inattention to the shelling process" made deviled eggs crunchy, but thirteen beat me to it.

Also consider Old Bay seasoning on your finished product. Lotsa savory flavor in there!
posted by robocop is bleeding at 4:00 PM on October 29, 2006

Cool! (Okay, what happened to the yoks? More blue food coloring, I assume?)

Oh, and I second finely minced celery.
posted by trip and a half at 4:35 PM on October 29, 2006

er, yolks
posted by trip and a half at 4:41 PM on October 29, 2006

I second the dill relish, it would add the crunch without the sweetness of...well, sweet relish.
posted by mewithoutyou at 4:50 PM on October 29, 2006

Diced or thinly sliced Walla Walla onions are a very sweet and mild addition to many foods--eggs, smoked salmon, salads, etc. You'd hardly know it was an onion.

Try this one:
Hard boiled free-range eggs
mayonnaise
diced smoked salmon
diced sweet onions
diced black olives
fresh fennel, dill, or tarragon
parsley
capers
mustard
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 5:33 PM on October 29, 2006 [1 favorite]

Another vote for relish, sweet or dill. If someone tricked me into eating [gags] celery by hiding it inside something as otherwise wonderful as a deviled egg, I would have to hide a deviled egg under their fridge or sofa for them to sniff out later.
posted by theredpen at 5:41 PM on October 29, 2006

Another vote for finely-chopped celery. If someone tricked me into eating [barfs] relish by hiding it inside something as otherwise wonderful as a deviled egg, I would have to hide a deviled egg under their fridge or sofa for them to sniff out later.
posted by biscotti at 6:20 PM on October 29, 2006

It's totally relish.
posted by Who_Am_I at 7:34 PM on October 29, 2006

Eew, relish inside deviled eggs? What is the world coming to?

I won't even begin discussing the atrocity of Miracle Whip or the lack of mustard powder in a recipe (surely you want the eggs to have a little self-respect when you're done with them).
posted by nonmerci at 8:19 PM on October 29, 2006 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Yep, the eggs I remembered turned out to be made with chopped dill pickles (aka dill relish, I assume...Is there a difference between relish and chopped pickle?)

Anyway, thanks for the great ideas (web-goddess: that cracked-egg + soaking overnight thing is awesome!), and happy deviled eggs to all!
posted by anonymoose at 1:13 AM on October 30, 2006

biscotti: I think maybe you and I should stick with the non-crunchy deviled eggs? I'm not really that great at cleaning.
posted by theredpen at 4:05 AM on October 30, 2006 [1 favorite]

I know this has already been mentioned in here but I use sugar in my recipe too. For a dozen eggs I use 2 tablespoons, which seems like a lot and could probably be taken down a bit, but it adds a little bit of "gritty" texture and is a good balance to the flavor. (You really can't taste the sugar but you know there's something extra in there) I made them for our Halloween party at work and they flew off the plate - everyone was commenting on how good they were and what was my secret. Sugar! :)
It's basically 6 tablespoons of mayo, 2 tsp of mustard and 2 tbsp of sugar for a dozen eggs. I use paprika after I put all the stuff back into the eggs more as a "garnish" than as another ingredient.
Man, this thread just made me hungry.
posted by slyboots421 at 7:32 AM on October 30, 2006

i just like 'em with mayo, salt & pepper, and a dash or two of curry powder. then the customary dusting of paprika. the yolks can absorb an amazing amount of mayo before getting to be the right texture, so i often use a combination of mayo and milk (just alternate some of each a little at a time until you get the proper consistency). it really doesn't change the flavor at all, and keeps the fat content down. this is making me hungry, too!
posted by doplgangr at 10:40 PM on October 30, 2006