Deviled Eggs

Stove Top. Serves 12

Ingredients:

6 hard boiled eggs, cooled
1 tablespoon pickle juice
1 ½ tablespoons mayonnaise
1 teaspoon mustard
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon dill weed, plus enough to sprinkle
¼ teaspoon onion powder
¼ teaspoon paprika, plus enough to sprinkle
1 small pickle, or 4 pickle chips, chopped fine
Salt


Directions:

1.Gently peel and rinse eggs. Cut in half lengthwise. Gently scrape yolk into a bowl and set whites on a plate. When all eggs have been cut and separated, lightly sprinkle whites with salt and dill weed. Cover, and refrigerate whites.
2.Using a fork, mash and mix egg yolks until you have a very fine crumbly powder. Add pickle juice, mix, and pack against side of the bowl. Mixture should just barely stick together. If not, add a bit more pickle juice (but don’t add so much that the yolk mixture is muddy).
3.Add mayonnaise and mustard, mix well. Add garlic powder, dill weed, onion powder and paprika, mix well. Add chopped pickle and mix again.
4.Pull egg whites from the refrigerator and uncover. Using a tablespoon and your (clean, not licked) finger, fill the holes in the whites with yolk mixture. After all the whites are filled, the remaining mixture between the eggs by gently mounding each hole.
5.Sprinkle eggs with paprika, re-cover, and refrigerate.


Notes:

Make it pretty – use a decorating bag and tips to add the yolk mixture instead of a spoon. Layer the serving dish with leaf lettuce, and add a tiny sprig of parsley to each egg.

Use your favorite pickles and juice….or mix it up. Mrs. Gardner uses dill pickle juice with bread and butter pickles (But don’t tell her husband!)

Try using Dijon mustard, spicy brown mustard, Chinese hot mustard, or Wasabi mayonnaise for an extra kick.

Speaking of kicks, add cayenne pepper instead of paprika, or a dash of hot sauce with the pickle juice.

And for all the ranch-heads (like Mrs. Gardner’s family) try using ranch dressing instead of mayonnaise.


source: Cherie Gardners' Catholic Gramma