Deviled Eggs with Smoked Salmon and Herbs

Not Your Grandmother’s Deviled Eggs

It’s Spring time in the mountains of north Georgia and everyone is starting to have pot-luck dinners. And if there are 20 people going to dinner 10 people will bring deviled eggs. People in the South love their deviled eggs. Your standard deviled eggs are hard boiled eggs with the yolks removed and mixed with mayonnaise, relish and other spices and condiments and then put back into the egg whites. Today I’m going to do a variation of the Southern Deviled Eggs.  This is my Lower Eastside Deviled Eggs with smoked salmon, dill, chives, shallots and cornichons.  Cornichons are gherkins, a tiny relative to the cucumber, and are pickled with dill and other spices, usually with a hint of tarragon. These are NOT your grandmother’s deviled Eggs.

This is not a blog post on how to hard boil an egg, except to say you never want to “Hard” boil an egg.  There are hundreds of recipes and YouTube videos on how to cook an egg. Let me just say that there is no one way to do it and no “perfect” way to do it. You cook a dozen eggs, 2 will give you a hard time. So If I were to give you advice it would be; if you’re going to need 10 eggs, cook 12.

The Recipe

• 8     Large Eggs (remember cook 10)
• 1/2  Cup or 2 ounces of smoked salmon
• 1/2  Cup of Cooking Creme – If you can’t find cooking creme you can use mayonnaise
• 2-3  Cornichons chopped fine
• 1     Tablespoon pickling liquid from the cornichons
• 1.5   Tablespoon  finely chopped chive
• 1.5   Tablespoon finely chopped dill
• 1     Tablespoon finely chopped shallot
• 1     Teaspoon ground white pepper

In a large pot cover the eggs with water (at least an inch above) and bring to a boil. Remove from heat, cover and let sit for 12 minutes. Drain the eggs and put them in an ice bath for a minute. Remove, crack the shells slightly and return to the ice bath for an additional 5 minutes.  Peel eggs under running water.

Cut the eggs lengthwise and remove the yolks. Transfer the yolks to a mixing bowl and mash with a fork or wooden spoon. Add the other ingredients and mix well. Do not add salt at this time.  The salmon, the cornichons are quite salty. Cover the mixture and place in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. Before you fill the egg whites taste the mixture and adjust seasoning. If it needs salt add a little at a time. A little salt will go a long way.

You can spoon the mixture into the eggs or use a pastry bag. However this mixture is very corse and you won’t be able to force it through the average decorative pastry tip.  What I’ve done in this video is place the mixture into a ziplock bag, cut off a small corner of the bag and then use the ziplock as a pasty bag to fill the egg whites.  Garnish with thinly slices cornichons or chopped chives.