Deviled Eggs

I absolutely love deviled eggs, but I’m not a fan of mayonnaise.  When I can, I try to make these with homemade aoili. The fresh garlic and lemon in the aioli gives it a more nuanced flavor, but you end up with a lot of leftover aoili if you make it just for this dish.

Ingredients:

18 hard boiled eggs
4 tbsp mayo
1 large avocado (needs to be really ripe and creamy), mashed
1 tbsp fresh ground pepper (fresh pepper is more potent. Use a little more if it’s pre-ground)
2 tbsp brown mustard (use less or Dijon if you want less of a tang)
1 tbsp garlic powder (OK to add more if you really like garlic, or omit if you don’t)
1 tsp coarse salt

Optional:
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp truffle oil
paprika

Directions:
Note: The yolks’ dryness will depend on how cooked your eggs are.
My method for cooking the eggs (so the whites are tender and not rubbery):
-Place eggs from the fridge in sauce pan completely submerged in cool water. Add about 2-3 tbsp of salt to the water.
-Place over high heat, until the water reaches a boiling point.
-Turn off heat and cover. Let sit for 25 min. (if using room temp eggs, let sit for 12 – 15 min)
-transfer eggs to a colander and run under cool water to stop the cooking.

1. Peel eggs, cut in half, and separate the yolks from the whites.
2. break up the yolks
3. In a medium bowl, mix the salt, spices, oil, mustard, and mayo.
4. mix in the egg yolks. If it’s a little dry, add more mayo or mashed avocado
5. Fill the egg whites with the egg yolk mixture
6. sprinkle with the paprika for color

Tip: use a piping bag to quickly fill the eggs.

Salted Eggs (Chinese Preserved Eggs)

Recently, I've been thinking a lot about the stuff my mom used to make when I was a kid. Because of the myriad of foods I was introduced to as a kid, I grew up experiencing flavors and foods that I took for granted as much as American kids take PB&J for granted. One such item is the salted (preserved) egg. The luscious, golden yolk was the coveted prize and can be found within many Asian dishes - Lotus leaf wrapped sticky rice, glutinous rice and chicken, bamboo leaf wrapped sticky rice dumplings, moon cakes, silken (steamed) eggs, clay pot rice - just to name a few.

However, it's been a fairly elusive ingredient to obtain. If you're lucky enough to live close to an asian market, you'll have to shell out about twice as much as a regular egg for the preserved egg. So, I decided to make my own following my mom's instructions. :D

My first attempt came out better than I'd hoped and I'll soon use them to make some of my childhood favorites.

Ingredients: 

2 to 4 oz of strong alcohol (I used whiskey).
1/2 c kosher salt.
6 Large chicken eggs

Directions: 

Rinse and dry the eggs
Dip egg in the alcohol
Coat egg with salt
Wrap egg w/ plastic wrap
Add a few drops of the whiskey and more salt before closing up the plastic wrap
Repeat for all eggs
Place wrapped eggs back into the bottom half of the egg carton
Place carton of eggs in a ziplock baggie big enough to hold the carton
Leave for 20-30 days on the counter.
Remove from wrap and rinse salt off.
You can crack one open at day 20 to check.

They are done when the yolk holds its perfectly spherical shape and is a deep orange color, and the whites would be fairly watery.

Avocado Egg Salad

Simple and super delicious. Avocado turns out to be a great substitute for mayonnaise. 

Ingredients: 

1 small Avocado, ripe

4 eggs (or 6 egg whites), hard boiled

salt, pepper, spices to taste (I used siracha and garlic powder)

Process: 

Take your avocado and mash it all up. The ease of getting all smashed up will depend on how ripe the avocado is. If it's not ripe enough, you will get chunks instead of a creamy base to work with. You'd want to use the avocado mash just like you would mayo - oz for oz. If you want chucks of avocado, then just mash up half and cut the other half into cubes. 

Then, add your hard boiled eggs, cut up. Stir until the yolks are fully incorporated. 

Serve on toast or with a crusty bread. 

Croque Madame & Mademoiselle

At the heart of it, a croque monsieur and croque madame is a ham and cheese sandwich. One with an egg, the other without. The croque madame isn't that much different than an eggs benedict... but it is. The simple change in ingredients make a world of difference. With the butter, 2 slices of regular bread, cheese, ham, and an egg, the points value of a regular can be 15- 18 pp for a sandwich. Add the sauce and you're looking at 20pt.

So, I decided to see if I can tweak it and make a lighter, smaller version of the Croque Madame. Have it with a good soup or salad for lunch or dinner. Have it with some yogurt and fruit for a brunch. The egg and cheese is pretty rich, even with the lightened version, so you'd want to pair it with something that is light with a bit of acid to balance it out. 

The Mademoiselle (10 pps)

Ingredients: 

1 egg

1 thick slice bread, cut in half (I used a 12-grain bread)

1.5 oz ham, sliced

1 tbsp light butter (I used Land-o-Lakes w/ canola oil)

2 oz of reduced-fat swiss, cheddar, and/or Jack cheese, grated

1 tsp spicy brown mustard

(If you're making 2 servings, double the ingredients and make 1 large sandwich, then cut in half before topping each half with the egg. It actually turns out better when you make this for 2. The crust on the bread slice helps keep its integrity.)

Process:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees. 
• Spread a thin layer of butter on the pieces of bread, then lay them butter side up on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Place in oven to toast for 3 minutes (until butter is melted and the other side is golden brown). 
• Take the bread out of the oven and turn over, so butter side is now down. 
• Top both slices of the bread with 2/3 oz of the shredded cheese. Add the slices of ham to one slice of bread.
• Return to oven for 4 minutes - until the cheese is melty and bubbly. 
• While the bread is browning and the cheese melting, over medium heat, prepare a sunny-side up egg, leaving it slightly undercooked (even for a sunny side up egg). Set egg in pan aside. 

• Take sandwiches out. Drizzle the mustard over the ham. Place the other slice of toasted bread on top of the ham, cheese side down.

•  Now, top this with the egg by gently sliding it onto the toast. Top the egg with remaining cheese and return to the oven for 1 - 2 minutes to cook the egg a little more (longer will solidify the yolk to your desired consistency) and to melt the cheese. 

Egg topping, a little more "done" here than I normally like it.  

The red is Chalula hot sauce.

Gooey egg-topped yum.

Variants and options
(Optional, but will add points) Before you add the ham and cheese, spread on the toasted bread a light mayonaise, bechamel, or garlic aioli. 

Use chicken or turkey instead of ham

Instead of using the oven, pan grill the sandwich to get a really crispy crust. You may end up using a little more butter or oil and thus have something a bit higher in point value. 

California Style: in addition to the ham, add thinly sliced tomatoes and avocado

Mexican Style: After bringing it out of the oven the final time, top with salsa. Use pepper jack cheese.