World cuisine-inspired Deviled Eggs

If you use Pinterest, you probably noticed that around Easter, everyone and their husband's uncle's mother-in-law's best friend's cow pins deviled egg recipes, because if you have kids, there's a good chance you're dyeing eggs.  And if you're dyeing eggs, there's an even better chance you hard-boiled them.  And then you're stuck trying to eat a dozen or so hard-boiled eggs in a relatively short time period.  Deviled eggs are a great way to do this.  Deviled eggs are also a neat opportunity to explore savory flavors.

World cuisine is a great source of flavor inspiration.  While no one dish or combination of flavors can capture the complexity and diversity of national and/or regional cuisines, one can see certain flavors predominate, or certain dishes are near and dear to people's hearts.  I've used that approach to create these deviled egg recipes-- one is inspired by flavors I associate with Mexican foods; the other is inspired by Greek flavors.

A friend of mine told me recently that she really enjoyed these recipes; apparently she does't usually like deviled eggs and just tried them to be polite.  For her benefit (and that of others, probably), I'm going to try to include measurements.  Please note that the measurements listed in the following recipes are estimates, and should be adjusted to taste.  If in doubt, put in less to start with.


Mexican-inspired Deviled Eggs
4 hard-boiled eggs
2-3 Tbsp mayonaise
1 tsp yellow mustard
1/4 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp ground cumin
pinch onion powder (a big pinch)
1 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro leaves, plus some for garnish
salt and pepper


Cut the eggs in half and pop the yolks out.  Place the yolks in a small bowl and add the mayo, mustard, chili powder, cumin, and onion powder.  Using a fork, mash everything together until it is [more or less] smooth.  Stir in the cilantro leaves, and season to taste with salt and pepper.  If you're feeling fancy, pipe the yolk mixture back into the egg white halves.  If you just want to get them done, don't want to deal with cleaning a piping bag, don't have a piping bag (and don't want to use the plastic baggie with a snipped corner method), or can't bear the thought of losing even a little bit of the delicious yolk mixture to a bag, just spoon the mixture into the egg white halves.  They'll taste good enough that people shouldn't mind too much.  Garnish, if desired, with a sprig of fresh cilantro.

Greek-inspired Deviled Eggs
4 hard-boiled eggs
2-3 Tbsp mayonaise
1 tsp yellow mustard (a skimpy tsp)
1/4 tsp lemon juice
dash dried lemon zest
1/2 tsp dried oregano
pinch garlic powder
salt and pepper

As above, halve the eggs and scoop out the yolks.  Mash together the yolks, mayo, mustard, lemon juice and zest, oregano, and garlic powder.  Season to taste with salt and pepper, and place into the halved egg whites.



Something I've learned the hard way: egg whites are slippery buggers.  Watch out!  My recommendation is not to serve them on a regular plate.  Use a dish with sides, like a pie pan or a storage container, or one of those fancy egg-plates that have indentations just for deviled eggs.  

Also, if you can let these recipes sit for a little bit, you'll have better flavors, because the ingredients will have more time to blend their flavors together.  I recommend doing this before filling the eggs, because a small bowl is pretty easy to cover tightly.  The filling will dry out if you aren't careful, and it can look a little funky when that happens.  

Finally, I am always on the look-out for tips for "perfect" eggs.  I have not yet worked out the magic formula.  What I have worked out is the easiest way to cook them: put the eggs in a pot filled with cool water, and bring it to a boil.  Once it comes to a rolling boil, turn off the heat, cover the pot, and let the eggs cook with carry-over heat until the water has cooled.  I like this method because it saves me wondering how long is long enough for cooking them.  It also uses energy efficiently; you only need to heat the water to a boil.  I usually boil the eggs right before I need to run and errand or something, so all that carry-over cooking/cooling happens while I'm busy with other things.  It makes it seem like I'm not waiting.