Tarragon pickled eggs. © Ryan Schierling |
Each and every October, it seems that deviled eggs start showing up all over. I get it, because there's "devil" in the name and you can make faces with the garnish to look all gouhlish – oh, and, sure, probably because it's a holiday for entertaining. There is that.
I'm a little picky about my deviled eggs. I think there's "one way" (my way, of course*), and then there are all the other ways I am perfectly happy to eat them when someone else is kind enough to go to the trouble. They may not really be all that difficult to make, but for some reason always seem to be the LAST thing on my priority list when I'm assembling a crudite spread. Peeling hard boiled eggs is bad enough, but removing the yolks, seasoning them and then fussing them back into place... oh, please. Despite my best intentions, I can't remember the last time I managed to get them completed in time for a party. I'm lucky if a few sliced hard-boiled eggs end up on the plate with sprinkle of kosher salt. So, I've simplified a "make ahead" strategy that hits all the same spots, but doesn't require piping my yellows back into my whites. In fact, in the fine Southern tradition of pickling eggs, I may even like these better...