Month: June 2017

Deviled eggs are a picnic staple but not everyone likes them.  Deviled eggs are a love it or hate it food.  I love them.  My husband hates them.  Hates them.  Hates the entire idea of hard boiled eggs.  On special occasions though, as long as they are not on his end of the table, he will tolerate them, for my sake.

Before you can make deviled eggs, you have to buy eggs.  Your local farmers’ market, and specifically my farmers’ market (Collingswood Farmers’ Market) have eggs.  Beautiful fresh eggs.  Some are white.  Many are brown.  And there are a few that are pastel blue/green.  Those are my favorite.  Those are sold by DanLynn Organic Farm.  I’ve been at her stand buying produce and eggs and have seen and heard people ask her to take the green eggs out of the dozen.  She does it graciously but you should know the color of the egg does NOT change the taste or texture of the egg.  The color of the egg is determined by the breed of chicken that lays it.

Directions for hard boiling your eggs.
Place twelve  cold eggs in a large wide pot and cover with cold water by 1 inch.  Bring the water to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for 10 minutes by the clock.  Drain the eggs and run under cold water until cool.  Some people put ice cubes in the water to speed the process.  The cold water helps the shell to separate from the cooked egg.

Directions to prepare your hard boiled eggs for filling.
Peel the eggs.  Cut them in half lengthwise.  Carefully scoop or pop out the yolk into a medium mixing bowl. Place the split and empty whites on a plate.

 

 

Directions for “regular” deviled eggs filling.

Mash the twelve eggs yolks in a mixing bowl.  Add 4 tablespoons of mayonnaise, 1/2 teaspoon of mustard, salt to taste.  Mash all of the ingredients together until it is a smooth paste.  Spoon the mixture into the hole in the egg white halves.  Put on a plate and sprinkle lightly with paprika. Serve.

 

Directions for deviled eggs with a “secret” ingredient. (These are delicious!)

Mash the twelve egg yolks in your mixing bowl.  Add 1/3 a cup of mayonnaise, (shh…secret ingredient coming up) 2 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature, 1 teaspoon dijon mustard.  Mash all of the ingredients together until it is a smooth paste.  Spoon the mixture into the hole in the egg white halves.  Put on a serving plate and sprinkle lightly with paprika.

These eggs are delicious!  People will notice a difference and love them, but will never be able to guess what the secret ingredient is!

 

Directions for Fancy Deviled Eggs.

Fry three slices of chopped prosciutto in a little butter.  When the prosciutto
is crispy (but not burned), take it out of the frying pan and drain on paper towels.
Mash the twelve egg yolks with 4 tablespoons of mayonnaise, a teaspoon of mustard, and most of the fried prosciutto.  Leave some for garnish.  Mix all ingredients until well blended.  Spoon into the egg white half, top with a piece of crispy prosciutto and a micro green. (Micro greens are the shoots of salad vegetables picked just after the first leaves have developed.  You can find them at most supermarkets.  At our farmers’ market we have used other alternatives like fresh parsley leaves or small trimmed greens from spicy lettuce mixes sold by a few farmers.  Experiment!).

These are as simple as regular deviled eggs, but much more elegant. My daughter Kate introduced these to us.  She is a deviled egg lover and always brings them to our gatherings.  Regular or fancy, her father still doesn’t like them.

 

Ingredients from the Collingswood Farmers’ Market
Eggs – DanLynn Organic
Spicy Greens – Our Yards

I have two daughters who learned to cook in my kitchen.  They started out baking cookies and mixing up fresh thousand island dressing for salads.  Gradually they started making full meals with many and various courses.  They are now grown women with their own families and kitchens.  And they are good cooks!  What follows is my younger daughter Kate’s recipe for bison brisket tacos.

This recipe is one that uses, among other things, a slow cooker.  As my daughter works all day in the city she likes this recipe because she can drop it in the slow cooker and everything is done when she wants it to be.

Ingredients for the brisket:
1 bison brisket (two to three pounds)
2 large onions sliced into half moons
Coarse Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.
1 to two cloves of garlic, minced (your preference)
2 cups of beef broth
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce (or tamari, if gluten free)

 

At this point you are cooking a brisket and it can be eaten as simply a brisket with potatoes and vegetables on the side…..but the brisket can also be so much more…like TACOS!

Directions for the brisket:
1.  Spray the inside of the slow cooker insert with oil, then spread the onions out over the bottom of the slow cooker insert.  Rinse and dry the brisket.  Season each side of the meat with salt and pepper to taste.
2.  Place the brisket in the slow cooker.
3.  Add the minced garlic.
4.  Pour the liquid over everything.  Then stir things around so the onions are around and on top of the meat.
5.  Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.
6.  When the meat is done, take it out of the slow cooker and shred it with two forks until it is consistent with how you like meat for your tacos.

 

Ingredients for the tacos:
4 to 8 flour tortillas (one per taco — the brisket makes enough for 4 to 8 tacos depending on how much meat you want on each one.
1 avocado
Juice of 1 lime
Granulated roasted garlic to taste, about 1 teaspoon
Delicate greens, washed, shredded, chopped and/or spicy greens

Directions for the tacos:
1.  Take the tortillas, wrap them in a slightly damp paper towel, and microwave for 10 to 20 seconds to warm and soften.  Put each tortilla on a plate.
2.  Into a sandwich-sized zippered plastic bag, put the avocado flesh, granulated garlic to taste, and lime juice.  Zip the bag shut and squeeze with your hands until desired consistency.  Snip off one of the bottom corners and squirt a generous helping onto each tortilla. (Kate calls this “lazy guacamole”…which she uses on week nights when she’s busy and tired but still wants something delicious and guacish!)

 

3.  On a rimmed sheet pan, spread the bison brisket meat and onions in a single layer.  Some liquid from the slow cooker is nice with the meat and onions, but not essential.
4.  Heat up your broiler. Place the tray with the meat and onions under the broiler for 5 to 7 minutes depending on how crispy you like it.  After the meat and onions have crisped, remove the tray from under the broiler and stir around.

5.  Add a heap of greens onto each tortilla, on top of the “lazy guacamole”.

6.  Top with a heap of delicious bison meat and onions.  Enjoy!

 

If you have any of the meat and onions mixture leftover ….pile it on a roll for a delicious sandwich or mix in with mac and cheese, or just serve with your favorite vegetables.  Kate’s husband gives this meal a thumbs up and hopes for leftovers to take to work for his lunch.

Kate shops with me every week at the Collingswood Farmers’ Market.  She has for years.  Now that she and her sister run their own kitchens, they both shop for their weekly meals on Saturday morning.

Where to shop at the market for this meal:
Bison brisket – Buck Wild Bison
Greens _ Our Yards Farm
Avocado and Lime – Sara’s Produce