Heavenly deviled eggs

So, I like eggs now. Sort of. Not every way--the thought of an omelet still makes me gag, and strangely, although scrambled was the only way I would consider eating them for about 20 years, I now do not prefer them scrambled--but I'll eat a fried egg (sunny-side up), and occasionally poached. And I've grown very fond of the deviled egg.

On the one hand, deviled eggs seem weird and tacky and kind of dated. They're so American. My parents used to make deviled eggs for parties when I was a kid and transport them in a special deviled egg carrying case, which I coveted both then and now. It was the kind with special little divots for the egg halves, plus a lid that snapped shut with a handle.

On the other hand, deviled eggs are a fantastic idea. Much like the twice-baked potato, with a few ingredients you can elevate something from basic to divine, while stuffing it back in its original package. Fun!

This was my first attempt at deviled eggs. I wanted to make them as an appetizer for Thanksgiving, and so I did a test run a few days earlier, which is what these photos are from. I had a little trouble boiling the eggs.  Why are easy things sometimes hard?  I used the bring-to-boil-turn-off-and-sit method and ended up with little dents and dips in the eggs, as you can see. The second versions looked much better, although of course I have no pictures to prove it. In that instance, I boiled the eggs the day before (just 10 minutes on low) and let them rest overnight, which seemed to help.

The recipe is based on Tyler Florence's deviled eggs that he serves as his wonderful restaurant, Wayfare Tavern. I found the recipe here, but tweaked it a bit the second time around: I decreased the capers and salt, added more mayo, and left the smoked paprika out of the filling. I also was out of celery leaves but in possession of chives so did a swap. And, I skipped the fried caper garnish in both attempts, though I have no doubt that would have been delicious. I just can't get into so much detail for what is essentially a snack. I did, however,  form a makeshift pastry bag out of a Ziploc and found the single tip I own so I could pipe the filling as artfully as I was able, which was not very.

These were quite the hit.  I expect these might reappear later in the holiday season and suggest you give them a try as well, if you're looking for something simple, festive, and a little bit retro for your next gathering.