The Deviling of Avocado-Deviled Eggs

Ah, the avocado!  And oh, for the egg!

Morsel of goodness

This came together well as an appetizer brought to a potluck affair I just attended.  A few years past, I’d made my standard deviled eggs (egg/mayo/Dijon mustard/curry powder/capers or pickle bits).  I prefer not to repeat myself among the same crowd.

I also decided to ditch the mayo since I’ve had terrible luck creating my own (I hadn’t experimented with the proper equipment or number of hands for said equipment), and I like to get reasonably more-from-scratch when possible.

There are a couple of avocado deviled eggs recipes I quickly eyeballed, and then adapted.  I’ll provide the links at bottom.

INGREDIENTS

7 – 10 eggs (more about which below)
1 avocado (buy more than one – if you only have one it may be brown inside, or too hard.  In fact, if you have only one, it’s guaranteed…)
1/2 lime (equivalent amount of lemon in a pinch)
2 slices of a medium white or yellow onion, chopped
Chipotle powder (make sure there’s no salt pre-added!)  McCormick makes a good variety of chipotle chili pepper.
Sea salt
1 heaping teaspoon drained capers
Sprigs of fresh cilantro (optional)

The eggs:

Fresh from the farm in the literal sense is not a good idea when it comes to hard cooked eggery.  They don’t peel well.  Let them age a week or so.  I didn’t have any to hand, so I picked up a dozen “humanely raised cage free” eggs from the supermarket, supplied by one of the smaller outfits out there, which would at least be superior to the run of the mill standard egg.

My hard cooking method:

Put eggs into pot of tap water, to cover.  (Floaters will peel well, but they’re the oldest eggs.  Ideally yours won’t float, but at least they’ll peel.)  Make sure there is only one layer of eggs and that there is space between them.

Add  salt, any old table salt will do.  I never measure, but about half a teaspoon per pot.  This isn’t for flavor, it is for osmotic pressure.  If an egg has a fissure, it might crack but it won’t spew out.  You can save the majority of cracked eggs this way.  Severely cracked eggs should not be used; nothing will give them a good finished hard cooked ambiance.

Heat the water to a boil.  Once or twice come by with a spoon and turn them around, this will attempt to center the yolk some in the finished egg.

When a vigorous boil ensues, reduce heat to a low boil and let them continue on for another 12-15 minutes.  (By the way, the secret for a good SOFT-cooked egg — solid whites, liquid yolk — will depend on the size of your pot, which determines how long the egg has already been cooking before it comes to a boil.  Also if you use the Big burner or the Little burner.  So, the Three Minute Egg is, stovetop depending, often a myth.)

At the end, pour off enough hot water without losing the eggs, and run cold tap water over them until they are cool enough to the touch.  Then take them a couple at a time and run them directly under cold tap water, set on your dish draining board for ventilation, and allow to cool further, say a half hour.

Peel, and place all peeled eggs into the fridge.  You can do this the night before the event, if you wish. (The rest of the steps, especially considering we’ll be using avocado, should be done as close to when you need the appetizer as possible.)

Cut the eggs in half, gently remove the yolks to one bowl and the whites to the tray you’ll serve them in, insides facing up.

Remove the peel from the avocado (cut avo in half, long-side, without cutting through the seed, break into two halves, remove the seed, remove the peel, and slice it into a container in which you can use your immersion blender without splattering.  (I still prefer to operate it in the sink).  Add the juice of the half a lime!!!!  Add the onion.

Blend the above until creamy.

Mash some of the above into the yolks in the bowl, aiming for your preferred consistency.  I prefer moist with structure, and I simply use a spoon for the mashing.  Add more avo puree as needed but don’t feel you need to use it all.  (You’ll find other uses for the little that will remain.)

Add the chipotle powder and a little sea salt.  Mix.  With the chipotle, you’ll need to taste as you go along.  The ideal is to have just enough that it can be tasted, but not so much as to register as “hot”.

Add the capers, mix around a bit, and maybe toss in a few more if needed.

Ready to go!

Use a spoon to fill the egg white hollows.  Or if you are of a decorative bent, you can always use one of those cake confectionary tubes.  Top with sprigs of cilantro.  I left some un-topped, as cilantro is an herb some folk love to hate.

If you can’t serve immediately, keep chilled.  And when you get to your destination, explain why your eggs are green…  Maybe it’s a Doctor Seuss reference!

 

PS:  This dish was a success.  None of these made their way home after the event.

http://www.paleofood.com/appetizers.htm#eggswithguac  – guacamole stuffed eggs, the guacamole ideas are lower on the page.  Just mix with yolks and deliver.
http://www.ibreatheimhungry.com/2012/03/guacamole-inspired-deviled-eggs.html  – Someone has a decorating device… Looks awesome.