EGG SALAD
4 servings or 2 cups
This popular combination of hard-cooked eggs, mayonnaise, and seasonings is often served in sandwiches or in scooped-out tomatoes. It is great, too, served in a lettuce cup.
¼ C. mayonnaise
2 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. instant minced onion
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. pepper
6 hard-cooked eggs
½ C. finely chopped celery
4 lettuce leaves
Blend together mayonnaise, lemon juice, onion, salt and pepper. Cut 4 slices from center of 1 egg and reserve for garnish. Chop all remaining eggs. Stir chopped eggs and celery into mayonnaise mixture until moistened throughout.
For each serving, spoon about ½ cup into a lettuce leaf. Garnish with reserved egg slice.
Variations: Add any of the following ingredients to taste:
Sliced or chopped ripe or green pitted olives
Chopped green pepper, mushrooms, parsley, chives or watercress
Shredded carrots
Shredded Cheddar or Swiss cheese
Crumbled bacon
Chopped pimiento strips, onions
DEVILED EGGS
8 to 10 servings
These stuffed eggs are so popular at picnics and buffets that the name “deviled” seems undeserved. It comes from the fiery seasonings sometimes used; milder variations are below.
6 hard-cooked eggs
2 T. mayonnaise
½ to 1 tsp. prepared mustard
½ tsp. lemon juice
¼ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. Worcestershire sauce
⅛ tsp. pepper
Cut eggs in half lengthwise. Remove yolks and set whites aside. Mash yolks with fork, then blend in remaining ingredients. Refill whites using about 1 tablespoon yolk mixture for each egg half.
Variations: Add any of the following ingredients to yolk mixture:
Chopped parsley or chives
Deviled ham
Drained tiny shrimp or flaked tuna
Minced onion
Finely minced ham
Sweet pickle relish
Parsley flakes
Finely chopped pitted ripe or green olives, radishes or celery
Grated Parmesan cheese
Shredded Cheddar cheese
Toasted sesame seeds or finely chopped nuts
MEAT BATTER:
Enough for 1 broiler or 6 servings of fried meat
This may be used for batter-fried chicken or one version of chicken-fried steak. Spices such as garlic salt or paprika may be added to the flour to change the flavor from time to time.
2 eggs
½ C. milk
1 C. unsifted flour
1 tsp. double-acting baking powder
½ tsp. salt
In a deep bowl, beat the eggs and milk lightly. Combine the remaining ingredients and add to the egg mixture, a small quantity at a time. Stir just until the batter is smooth. Set the batter aside for 30 minutes. Dip the meat in the batter until it is well-coated and fry in hot oil or shortening.
PICKLED EGGS
12 appetizers
In Pennsylvania Dutch Country, Pickled Eggs are a sign of summertime. Vary the flavor by substituting pineapple juice or canned beet liquid for the vinegar. The latter gives them a rosy look.
2 C. white vinegar
2 T. sugar
1 med. onion, sliced and separated into rings
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. whole mixed pickling sauce
12 hard-cooked eggs
In medium saucepan combine all ingredients except eggs. Simmer over low heat, uncovered, until onion is tender, about 10 minutes.
Arrange eggs in each of two 1-quart jars with tight-fitting lids. Pour 1 cup vinegar mixture over eggs in each jar. Cover and refrigerate several hours or overnight to blend flavors. Eggs may be stored in refrigerator up to 2 weeks.
MAYONNAISE
About 1¼ cups
2 egg yolks or 1 whole egg
2 T. vinegar or lemon juice, divided
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. dry mustard
½ tsp. salt
Dash cayenne pepper
1 C. salad oil, divided
In small mixing bowl, beat together egg yolks, 1 tablespoon vinegar, sugar, mustard, salt and cayenne at medium speed until blended. Continue beating, adding ¼ cup salad oil drop by drop. Add remaining oil, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating constantly. Slowly beat in remaining vinegar. Chill thoroughly.
To prepare in blender: Measure ¼ cup oil and all other ingredients into blender container. Blend at high speed 5 seconds. Blending at high speed, add remaining oil very slowly until thick and smooth. (If necessary, turn off blender occasionally and clean sides with rubber spatula.) Chill thoroughly.
EGGS BENEDICT
4 servings
In the dining room of the Waldorf one day in 1894, an inventive but hungover Lemuel Benedict created a dish that would forever bear his name. He put together buttered toast, crisp bacon, poached eggs and Hollandaise sauce—and a classic was born! Oscar of the Waldorf, a menu maker of the first order, altered the bacon to ham and the toast to English muffins.
4 English muffins, split, toasted and buttered
8 poached eggs
¾ C. Hollandaise Sauce
16 slices Canadian-style bacon, broiled or pan-fried
Top each English muffin half with 2 slices bacon, 1 poached egg, and about 1 tablespoon hot Hollandaise Sauce. Serve hot.
HOLLANDAISE SAUCE
About ¾ cup
While this is a French concoction, the name may come from the fact that Holland is famous for its butter, a main constituent of the sauce. Louis Diat, chef extraordinaire and sauce expert formerly with New York City’s Ritz Carlton, wrote that “if the sauce does curdle, you can bring it back to homogenous thickness by putting a fresh egg yolk in another pan and gradually whipping in the curdled mixture.” The blender method avoids the curdling problem altogether.
3 egg yolks
2 T. lemon juice
¼ tsp. salt
⅛ tsp. paprika
Dash cayenne pepper
½ C. butter (1 stick), chilled and cut in eighths
In saucepan beat together egg yolks, lemon juice and seasonings. Add half the butter. Cook over low heat, stirring rapidly, until butter melts. Add remaining butter, stirring constantly, until butter melts and sauce thickens. Cover and refrigerate if not using immediately.
To prepare in blender: Measure all ingredients except butter into blender container. Melt butter and add to other ingredients. Blend at low speed until sauce thickens, 15 to 20 seconds.