Fancy filling for Deviled Eggs

The deviled egg is said to have originated in ancient Rome. No wonder I love them so much. According to Wikipedia, the term “deviled” dates back to the 19th century, and refers to the use of particularly hot or piquant spices in the egg filling.

There are many variations of the filling– you can use garlic, horseradish, pickle relish, chillies, thyme, cilantro, etc. My mother has always used a traditional mix of mustard, mayo and egg yolk. She garnishes with a sliced black olive and paprika “for color”, as Flo always says.

I can’t recall where I learned this (probably online somewhere) but here’s a neat trick to impress guests – add a fancy swirly filling to the deviled eggs. All you need is a plastic baggie.

Ingredients: eggs, mustard, mayo, salt, black olives, paprika

Directions: Boil the eggs (about 5 min), remove from the stove and rinse with cold water. Peel right away – I find the shell comes off easily this way.

Cut the eggs in half length-wise and remove yolk

Place the yolks in a bowl and add mustard and mayo. I add about 1-2 tablespoons at a time, taste and then add more if needed. This mixture should be thicker (more yolk) than thin so the swirl pattern holds.

Once you have the flavor right, mix well until smooth. The mixture must be smooth (and thick) for the baggie trick to work well.

The fun part!
Cut the tip of a plastic baggie off and spoon in the filling.  Place your eggs on the serving tray. Make sure the top of the plastic baggie is closed tightly. Squeeze the mixture in the center of the egg in a circle or back and forth motion – experiment with patterns!

I recommend filling the eggs right before company arrives for the freshest presentation.

Once the eggs are filled, sprinkle on salt and paprika. Place a sliced black olive in the center. Serve.