Deviled Eggs

As hard as I try some years, I cannot get away from making deviled eggs at Easter.  Everyone loves them.  If I even sound like I don't want to make them, I am met with a bombardment of complaints and whines.  I ALWAYS give in and "embrace the responsibility".

You see, it's a tradition that started literally years and years ago.  AND LETS NOT BREAK TRADITION!!   It's  not that I don't want to make them.  It's that there is so much going on in my kitchen during a holiday, it's just another thing to "pump" out ...and well, if I am looking to reduce my "workload" - it always seems like the deviled eggs are expendable.  But.....they are not.

So I make them.  And they are good.  And people are HAPPY.  And that's all that matters.

But really, when you think about it, why should they be just for EASTER?  Deviled eggs are actually a good "snack", they make nice "easy" appetizers and can even be a meal with a salad on a spring/summer day...I was thinking Deviled Eggs with a spinach salad (eggs go so well with spinach salad anyway!)  or just deviled eggs for lunch!

So yes.  Let's embrace an old favorite and let's make them at times OTHER than Easter...WHY?  Because we CAN!

If you know me personally you know I love to grow things.  I LOVE to grow fresh herbs. THEY ARE GORGEOUS PLANTS - all of them.  They smell wonderful and taste better!   The fact that I can cook and run outside at a moments notice to snip fresh herbs for a recipe right then and there is awesome, convenient and inexpensive.  How many times have you needed 1 tablespoon of fresh parsley only to buy the whole thing and then throw it out because it goes bad so fast? (I mean really, how much parsley can you eat???)  Or how many times are you making something and you think...gosh a little fresh basil, thyme or dill would really perk this dish up....?  It's worth to have a box of herbs growing outside your door.....my faves?  Chive, dill, basil, rosemary, THAI basil, oregano..and others.

I always have fresh Chives growing - They are one of the best and easiest to grow and use.  Plus they are prolific.  You cut them and they just keep producing.  Want a chive fact?  The purple chive flowers are edible and DELICIOUS !  I put them in salads ( break them up and separate them a bit) for a pretty and tasty addition!

Why did I go off on this tangent?  Because Deviled eggs are PERFECT for the addition of fresh herbs.  They take on great flavor and seem to be transformed by what you add.  Be creative!!

So just how do you boil the perfect eggs?  If you are saying to yourself, "UMMMM , listen Shelley we got the boiled egg part down!" I can hear the sarcastic tone!  If you are satisfied by your method, skip this part.  But if you always wondered or don't know,  it's simple.  Keep reading.

Put the number of eggs in the pot that you want to cook and over them with about an inch of COLD WATER.  Cover the pot and put it on the stove over fairly low heat (not simmer low but not medium) and let the water come up to a boil at this low heat level.  When the water is boiling, TURN OFF THAT FIRE.  Keep the eggs covered and set your timer for 20 minutes.  If you're using JUMBO eggs, use 25 minutes as your guide.  When the timer goes off pour out the water and ice and cold water in the pot with the eggs to make and ICE bath.  This cools them and stops them from further "cooking". 

VOILA, PERFECT BOILED EGGS.....Enough said.

You can do this the day before and refrigerate the eggs after they cool.  Just continue making the eggs the next day or simply continue with the recipe. 

I used:

Dill pickle relish (or just chopped dill pickle and a little juice (a splash)
Fresh chives - I use quite a lot - big handful!  ( a little dill is good too)
Chopped celery
Non-Fat Greek yogurt
Light or fat free sour cream
Dried minced onion (I like the flavor better for deviled eggs than fresh)
Touch of mustard
Cayenne pepper
Salt, pepper, garlic powder

I know this seems frustrating I didn't give you specific amounts for each ingredient...why?  Because I don't know how many eggs you will use, what size the eggs are and what your preference to thickness of the filling is.  

Take the shell off the eggs ( I do this under running water):

Cut the eggs in half LENGTH WISE.  Gently pop the yolks out to another bowl. 

I put pickles, chives, celery, minced onions (and anything else you want to add) EXCEPT YOLKS into the food processor and give it a quick pulse or two. 

Add yolks, salt, pepper, some garlic powder and a pinch of cayenne.  Start with a tablespoon of yogurt and sour cream.  Run processor for a few seconds....see what it looks like. Add yogurt and sour cream by the spoonful until the filling is the consistency you like. It only take a couple, really.   Taste and adjust seasonings - you may need more pickle or celery, salt, garlic pepper...etc.  When satisfied, put eggs onto a deviled egg dish (or just on a plate or platter) and fill with a piping bag or spoon. 

I estimate about 2.5 points for 2  halves.

There are MILLIONS of ways to make deviled eggs.  This way is just my family "tradition" - less the fat.  Nobody suspected I changed the recipe to extremely low fat!!  Add or remove anything you want.  Make them Southwest, Standard, Spicy, Asian, or any other way you can dream up!  Try Deviled eggs.com also....there are many recipes on that site that you could enjoy in a healthy diet.

From my home to yours, ENJOY!

Greek Style Leg of Lamb with Pan Sauce

I am not sure what it really feels like to be "HIT BY A MAC TRUCK",  But this morning I felt like I was,  indeed, hit by ONE.    So much to do for Easter.  Cleaning, shopping, and prepping!  And that's before dinner is even CLOSE to being made.  WHEW!  It was all go, go, go until 11 PM...then blissful bed time.  But 4 AM is a hideous hour and it came far too fast today.  YEP, I was trashed!! 

Let's talk about what I WASN'T thinking last week.....why didn't I take today OFF????  DOH!   Someone needs to remind me of my age next holiday!

I was telling you last week I decided on Lamb for dinner.  I wanted a beautiful, large leg of lamb.  One that was whole with the entire bone in tact.  But where to find one?  In the regular Markets there are boned leg of lamb, butterflied leg of lamb, half leg of lamb with the bone in and lamb shanks (the top part of the leg), but NO WHOLE LEGS.  We found nothing in our search so it was off to Bob's Country Meats for a gorgeous, whole, fresh, albeit expensive, lamb leg.  I WAS EXCITED!

I researched preparations for Greek, Middle Eastern and Indian preparations.  I quickly decided that Indian was out.....excellent I am sure, but likely not the biggest crowd pleaser.  Middle Eastern looked good, but it was the Greek preparation that drew me in.  The Greeks stud their leg of lamb with TONS of sliced garlic cloves, then drench it in fresh squeezed lemon juice.  So as fascinated as I was, I found myself thinking wow, sounds great but maybe just a bit simple.  So I found a recipe for fresh herb paste which i felt would go with the lemon and garlic, then a pan sauce that complimented the entire preparation.

The result was a delicious, perfect lamb roast which was tender, rich with a touch of bright acidity from the Lemon.  The pan drippings were turned into a sauce that perfectly complimented this roast!

The Leg of Lamb was HUGE:

What you see here is the finished product of my trimming skills.  Leg of Lamb like this comes with a tough membrane around the meat with a good amount of fat.  I pulled off all the membrane and cut away most of the fat leaving enough to keep the meat tender.

I don't know if you can see the slits. Inside of those slits are sliced garlic cloves - a lot of them!!  I used almost a whole head of garlic (probably 20 or more cloves, sliced).

It's time to squirt lemon juice over the whole leg.  I use a citrus squeezer - they are the best and easiest to use.  I tried everything before I went to the squeezer and this is just so convenient and easy (especially with my arthritis in my hands.  I can do 3-4 lemons in NO TIME, with no pain.  Check out a fantastic squeezer at Amazon, in my favorites to the right of this blog.  That's the one I am going to get once this one breaks!!

Squeeze the juice of two lemons all over the leg (if your leg is smaller than 8 lbs, use one lemon) and sort of rub in into the meat, without disturbing the garlic pockets.

Lightly salt and pepper the meat.  Cover with Plastic wrap (aluminum foil doesn't like lemon juice) and refrigerate over night.  The next day take roast out and let it come to room temperature, if possible (this is not a not necessary).

Just before baking, pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees and make a fresh herb crust:

6 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
6 tablespoons chopped fresh Rosemary
6 large garlic cloves
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons pepper, cracked or hand ground
6 tablespoons of olive oil
( this recipe is from The Complete Meat Cookbook, by  Bruce Aidells and Denis Kelly)

Put it all in the food processor:

Process until this is a Bright green kind of loose paste.  Cover the whole roast (every nook and cranny) with the paste:

Affix roast with a meat thermometer (I use one with a probe that sits on the counter so I can constantly see the temperature.  Cover with Aluminum Foil and put in the middle of your oven at 350 degrees.  I happen to have a convection oven - it's not necessary but I like to use it with meat this large. It helps the heat to be distributed a bit more evenly so if you have one, I would recommend using it.

After one hour, remove the aluminum foil from the roast and pour in about 3 cups beef broth to keep meat moist (and to help make gravy. Continue to roast until temperature you desire is reached (if broth dries up in the oven, add some hot water or additional broth.

NOTE: Many people love RARE leg of lamb.  I don't.  I like mine about a few degrees west of medium, so I roasted this until the temp read 160 degrees.  Since this leg was 11 lbs, it took approx. 3 hours. But feel free to play with temperatures and serve the lamb to your liking.  I let the lamb rest for about 15 minutes on another platter.  The roast rose 8 degrees during that time - perfect for me.  The roast was a bit more than medium, but still pink at the bone.

I used the Pan sauce recipe, from the same book

2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 cup red wine (I used Pinot Noir)
1 cup beef broth
2 teaspoons fresh thyme, chopped
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
a bit of butter (optional)
salt, pepper
but added my additions:  Cream or half and half and the possible addition of a roux for thickening (flour and water mixed till thick)  I needed to use the roux.

Pour off fat leaving pan drippings and juice.  Bring roasting pan juices to a boil.  Add garlic and cook about a minute.  Add wine and boil on high until reduced by half, scraping up bottom of pan.  Add stock and thyme and boil until sauce coats the back of a spoon.  Whisk in the mustard and add salt and pepper to taste.  If the sauce is too thin, mix a little flour (2 tablespoons maybe) with a some water to thick paste and add by drop-fuls into gravy and whisk to desired thickness.  Add cream or half and half to taste and add a bit of butter, if desired.

Your lamb is ready to be carved and crowned with that beautiful sauce...

From my home to yours, ENJOY!