On holidays, my wife cooks like an Italian grandmother. You could show up unannounced with a family of five and we’d have enough for everyone … with leftovers. So of course for Easter she cooked and colored 4½ dozen eggs.
I needed a way to start using them up. Introducing … The Deviled Egg Bar.
Ingredients
hard-boiled eggs
mayonnaise (click here to make it yourself, if you’re ambitious)
mustard
whole avocado
extra virgin olive oil
chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
Toppings
bacon
red bell pepper
jalapeño peppers
pickles
leek
Extra Bases
garlic naan
thin-sliced pumpernickel bread
white button mushrooms
tortilla chips
Directions
When I posted deviled eggs before I asked people what variations they like. I got suggestions for everything from hot chili-pickled eggs to sweet pickle relish and lots more in-between. Since I couldn’t decide which one I wanted to try, I figured I’d do a bunch of them.
I didn’t invent the deviled egg bar, but every other example I can find they put out prepared, pre-filled eggs with a bunch of toppings. I haven’t seen anyone else doing multiple fillings and multiple things to put it on.
Unless someone can point me to a previous example, I’m claiming this one today: When the deviled egg bar becomes “a thing” remember that you saw it here first.
The Bacon
You can buy your bacon bits already made. Just don’t use the fake ones or I’ll have to come over there and slap you silly. If you want to make your own, dice the bacon up before cooking it – it’s easier to dice if it’s still just about frozen.
Dump in a frying pan over low heat.
Put a splatter screen over it and let it cook slowly until the bacon is just a little crispy. Line a bowl with a paper towel, pour everything in, lift the paper towel out and let the grease drain. (See this previous post about rendering bacon fat for an example.)
Put the paper towel full of bacon on a plate and spread it out so the bacon can cool.
The Eggs
Peel all the eggs. (Yes, your Easter eggs will have dye lines on some of them. Deal with it.)
If they’re already cooked, it’s too late for all the tips about how to cook them so they’re easy to peel. Here’s the only one I know that helps at this point: Dip each egg in very hot (nearly boiling) water for about a minute before trying to peel it. The heat loosens up the membrane making them easier to peel.
Some of them will get stuck anyway. Set those aside for the avocado filling.
Cut them all in half lengthwise and pop out the yolk. Use a very skinny knife, like a paring knife
Classic Deviled
The basic deviled egg filling is just yolk, mayonnaise and mustard. You can see in my previous deviled egg post that I like spicy brown mustard for these. I knew I’d be doing the spicy ones, so I went milder for the main batch.
Please don’t ask me how much of each to use. Different size eggs have different size yolks. Some people like their filling really creamy, some like it almost chunky. You may not like mustard as much as I do.
Just start with a couple of scoops of mayo and a squirt of mustard, mix it up and taste. Keep adjusting until you like it. (You might want to keep a few yolks in reserve in case you get carried away with the mayo.)
Avocado and Egg White
Take a couple of the “ugly” whites and toss them in a blender with the avocado. Add a tablespoon or so of olive oil and a dash of salt. Process until smooth and taste. Adjust salt for flavor and oil for consistency.
If you’ve never done it, click here to see how to pit and peel an avocado.
Chipotle Deviled
This was a whim, just because I had some left-over chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
Follow the same method as the classic filling, except dice the chipotle really fine first, and use it in place of the mustard.
The Setup
Once you’ve got all the fillings made, pop the stems out of the mushrooms, cut the pumpernickel and the naan or pita bread into appetizer-sized pieces and toast the pumpernickel. Arrange everything somewhere convenient and invite the ravenous hordes to dive in.
For the first round, your guests will make a couple of variations, put them on a plate, and go sit somewhere to eat them.
The second round, they’ll come stand around the bar, forget the plates, and eat them as they make them.
