Recently friends had a Halloween Party and I could not think what to take for food to the potluck. One suggestion by the hostess was Deviled Eggs. The other suggestions I could not really understand, the Deviled Eggs sounded good. One small problem I had never made deviled eggs before and I did not care much for the store bought ones. So out came the Betty Crocker and the Better Homes and Garden cook books that I have been saving for some 30 years for just such an emergency.
One small problem, none of the traditional ingredient lists had a lot of appeal. One of the alternate recipes mentioned olives, and olives show up in Omelets so a bit of a start. I decided to add some Bacon Bits and drop things like onions. The recipe below is the result after a couple of test tries.
The Deviled Eggs turned out to be quite popular.
Ingredients
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- 6 large hard boiled eggs
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- 2/3 Cup whole pitted Olives (drain well & rinse, (improves the color of the yolks))
- 3 heaping TBSP Bacon Bits (I get the pre-made Bacon Bits at the grocery store – much quicker and they are already in the real small pieces needed) If the Bacon Bits are a bit large, put them in the chopper first and chop just a bit before putting the Olives in the chopper.
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- 0 Salt
- 1/4 teaspoon Celery Salt
- 1/4 teaspoon Pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried Parsley – DO NOT Add Extra – Overwhelms the other tastes
- 3 TBSP Mayonnaise
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- Paprika (shake on at the end)
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Combine olives and bacon bits in some sort of chopper and chop lightly – DON’T puree or make the chunks too small – larger chunks look better
Split the eggs lengthwise and put the yolks in a mixing bowl. Add the Celery Salt, Pepper and Mayonnaise to the yolks. Combine well with fork or hand mixer. A hand mixer on medium speed will give a nice creamy mixture.
Use a fork to sort of crumble the egg yolks before mixing in the mayonnaise, this makes it easier to make a smooth blend. I use a power portable mixer to mix the egg yolks and mayonnaise, a bit of higher speed makes things a bit creamier.
I left out the Bacon Bits and the Deviled Eggs still tasted great, I added about 20% more Celery Salt when the Bacon Bits were left out.
FOLD in the chopped olives, dried Parsley and bacon bits. Folding in these ingredients gives a much better appearance.
Spoon the mix into the split egg whites.
Sprinkle on a bit of Paprika for accent.
I hope you enjoy this as much as my friends did.
Updated December 25, 2013
UPDATE May 30, 2014: Many grocery stores sell hard boiled eggs that are peeled. Much easier than boiling & peeling them myself.
When cutting the eggs in half, use a sharp knife and rinse the knife between cuts, the cuts will be cleaner and easier.
UPDATE November 27, 2014: Added no Bacon Bits option and note on crumbling the egg yolks.
m / m
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I’m gonna try this over the weekend.