How To Make Deviled Eggs

I never let the devil in my house, unless of course he's there to do the deviled eggs; but that's it.

Ingredients

• 12 boiled eggs
  
• 1/4 cup regular mayonnaise, more or less to taste
• 1 tablespoon Creole, Dijon or yellow mustard
• 1 tablespoon sweet or dill pickle relish
• Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon of Cajun seasoning or to taste
• Paprika, for garnish, optional

Instructions

Peel the eggs and split in half lengthwise, removing the yolks and setting aside the whites. Using a fork or  pastry blender, mash the yolks well. To the yolks, add the mayonnaise, mustard, pickle relish, salt, pepper and Cajun seasoning and stir together well until creamy. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed. Pipe the yolk mixture into the egg whites using either a pastry bag and tips or place into a plastic storage bag and snip off the corner. Piping not only looks nicer, but it also makes more efficient use of the yolk filling. Serve immediately or refrigerate filled eggs in a covered bowl that leaves room so the stuffing is not disturbed.

~Cook's Notes~

Tip: You can also make deviled eggs by cutting off the narrow top of the egg to stuff them upright. If the egg doesn't want to stand upright, cut off just enough of the bottom to make it level. Remove just enough of the top portion to expose the yolk, scoop out the yolk and prepare filling and pipe the filling into the egg so that is standing upright. You'll only get one appetizer per egg this way, so make plenty of boiled eggs for this method!

Make Ahead: Want to get the eggs boiled and filling ready ahead of time? No problem! Boil the eggs and remove the yolks as usual. Place the egg whites in a zippered storage bag or other container and refrigerate. Mix up the filling and spoon that into another zippered bag, seal and refrigerate. Same with garnishes. When it comes time to make the eggs, cut the tip off of the corner of the bag and pipe, at home, or at the site, and garnish.

To Transport Prepared Deviled Eggs:  Place two or three layers of paper towel into the bottom of a large lidded plastic storage container. Lay the piped eggs in a single layer into the container, just touching each other and filling in all the way into the center. The paper towels will help to absorb moisture and will help to keep the eggs from sliding around and bumping into each other while traveling. Once all of your eggs are in the container, lightly sprinkle the tops with paprika for color. You can also tote your egg whites and bagged filling to the party and do the piping there, it really only takes a second to do if you don't mind taking a few minutes to do it.

Presentation: Don't have an egg platter? Or just want to put out more eggs? Layer a large platter with curly leaf lettuce, breaking off the rough stem ends and placing the lettuce with the curly leaves out in a circular pattern around the platter. Transfer the eggs to the platter laying them out in a similar circular fashion toward the center until the platter is full. Refrigerate remaining eggs until time to replenish the tray.

Toppings or add-ins for deviled eggs: Can mix into the filling or simply top each stuffed egg with a little pinch for presentation. Horseradish, caviar, chives, crumbled bacon, chopped cooked shrimp, lump crabmeat, baked ham, deviled ham, jalapeno, finely chopped green onion, finely shredded cheese, fresh salsa from the deli, sweet baby gherkin pickles, sliced into thin strips, and chopped pimento are a few good suggestions.

Variation:  BBQ Ranch: Mix in one packet of dry Ranch dressing and a dash of Liquid Smoke. Stuff eggs. Just before serving, drizzle each stuffed egg with barbecue sauce (a squirt bottle works best for this)  and garnish with sliced green onion. If you have any leftover smoked meats, finely chopped about 1/4 cup and add that in with the yolk mixture. Deviled eggs are perfect for parties!