Deviled Eggs
My husband's grandmother, Cecile Ellis, loved to entertain. Sunday dinner with her was a pleasure. She cooked simply and always started the meal with appetizers and cocktails. She loved to make deviled eggs and the base recipe for this version is hers. I felt compelled to embellish the recipe and this little treasure is limited only by your imagination. You can basically do anything to it. My recommendation is to do the filling at least a day ahead of serving time. This enhances the flavors of the ingredients. For those of you who pay attention to detail, the filling in the above picture is the deviled egg mixture on a cracker....I have not yet filled my hard boiled eggs with the mixture....
Ingredients:
6 hard-boiled eggs
1 to 2 cans of deviled ham
mayonnaise
poppy seeds
apple-smoked bacon
Chives (chopped very fine and optional)
Hard boil the eggs. Allow to cool thoroughly. Remove shells. Slice four of the eggs in half and scoop out the yolks. Put the yolks into a deep bowl. Add the two remaining eggs to the bowl. Using a fork, crush the eggs and yolks until you get a fairly fine mixture.
Add mayo to taste (about 1/3 of a cup). Add salt, pepper and 4 ounces of crushed bacon bits. Stir the contents of the bowl thoroughly. Sprinkle the mixture with poppy seeds and mix well. (I know poppy seeds sound odd but this gives the mixture a distinctive texture which I love.) If you choose to add chives, do so now. Mix well. Cover the mixture and refrigerate. Put the reserved eggs in a container and refrigerate.
To serve, fill the eggs with the mixture.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
This mixture can be used for just about anything: sandwiches; stuffing for poultry or fish; toast points; celery sticks.......live wildly!
