Lazy Deviled Eggs

Deviled Eggs are always a hit at parties and potlucks. My aunt's deviled eggs are famous in our family. But they're kind of a pain to make and transport, even if you have a fancy deviled egg tray. 

These lazy versions are much easier! You don't need a piping bag or any other special tools - although there are a couple of pieces of equipment that do make these especially easy, but you can make them without anything special. 

Instead of scooping out the yolks, you just slice up hard boiled eggs, season them and serve them on a cracker. It couldn't be simpler!  And you can transport the peeled eggs to your location and make them fresh on site quickly, instead of transporting piped egg halves that can get squashed.

One of the things that makes this particular recipe so easy is using an Instant Pot to cook the eggs. If you don't have one, you can just hard boil your eggs the normal way, but the Instant Pot makes wonderful hard boiled eggs that never get that green line around the yolk. 

To hard boil eggs in the Instant Pot, use the rack.  Put a cup of water in the bottom of the pot and place your eggs on the rack. This recipe calls for only 3 hard boiled eggs to make 18 bites, but why not cook more eggs to double the recipe or have for lunch during the week?

If you want to hard boil a dozen eggs, just pile them on top of each other!  Close the lid and set to low pressure for 7 minutes for a creamy hard yolk. For a firmer yolk, try 8 minutes. For a jammy yolk, 6 minutes (not for this recipe, but if that's what you like, go for it.)

Release the pressure manually, remove the lid, and use tongs to plunge the eggs into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. 

The nice thing about the Instant Pot is peeling the eggs. The peels come off beautifully! I do recommend peeling them just after cooling, because the peels are a little harder to get off cleanly if you refrigerate the eggs in their shells. 

Mix some mayonnaise and Dijon mustard together.

Spread a little on 18 plain rice crackers.

Peel the eggs and slice them into even rounds.  An egg slicer is really great to have for this step, and super cheap.  If you don't have one, carefully cut them with a knife as evenly as possible. 

Place an egg round on each rice cracker. Sprinkle with smoked paprika, kosher or sea salt, and a sprig of dill. 

I took these to a work potluck and it was so simple to mix up the dijon mayonnaise and cook the eggs the night before, then slice the eggs and assemble the bites right there in our work kitchen. People loved that it was just a taste of deviled egg, rather than half an egg.  And you really get a lot of bang for your buck, making 18 servings out of 3 eggs!

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
3 hard-boiled eggs
1 tablespoon mayonaisse
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
18 plain rice crackers
smoked paprika
sea salt or kosher salt
fresh dill

Instructions:
Mix the mayonaisse and mustard together and spread on rice crackers
Slice the eggs. Place one egg slice on each cracker
Sprinkle with paprika and salt and a small sprig of dill

Enjoy! 

Holiday Round-Up

It's getting to be a busy time of year with everyone rushing about preparing for the holidays.  We're all looking for short cuts to make the season easier, including me!  So here's a round-up of holiday posts that might make life a little easier for you.

First, a couple of simple meals to have in your back pocket for those busy nights where there's just not enough time.

Cacio e Pepe (Cheese & Pepper Pasta)

Unbelievably simple and delicious. You can use spaghetti, linguine or bucatini.  Keep Romano cheese and white pepper on hand and this is a pantry meal for any time.  

Lazy Cabbage Rolls

These take a little more time to make, but you can make several batches to freeze and bake any time for a quick meal.  Seasonal and flavourful, this is great to have on hand for cold winter nights.  

Now, if you're hosting a party or are a guest who needs to bring something, here are some appetizer ideas.

Shrimp Cocktail 

It's so much nicer when you make it yourself.

Little Hasselback Potatoes

This potato technique makes an amazing side dish, but it would also be great as an appetizer with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkle of chives.

Gougeres (Cheese Puffs)

Surprisingly simple but incredibly impressive.  These are great as an appetizer, or in place of rolls on a buffet table.  They freeze well too.

Butternut Squash Tart

Puff pastry tarts are a quick and easy meal and can be cut into smaller pieces for a fancy appetizer.  This one is easy and delicious.

With all these appetizers, you'll need some cocktails!

Mulled Wine

This festive treat became a favourite last holiday season.  

Craft Beer

Or how about a beer? Scroll through the Beer Baron's posts for ideas to serve at your party or bring as a gift for your hosts.  

If you have time to do a little baking...

Ginger Crackles

Festive and seasonal, I make these every year and love them.

Saltine Toffee (aka Christmas Crack)

This is another annual tradition that never fails to impress, even with the humblest ingredients.  

Now for the main event...

Spatchcocked Turkey

If you're serving turkey to a crowd, there's no quicker way to cook a crispy, juicy whole bird than to spatchcock it.  This post is old, but the technique is timeless.

Jerk Roasted Turkey Breast

If you're serving a smaller group, this Jerk-spiced turkey breast is perfect, unusual and warming.

And finally, I always like to serve seafood as a special treat on New Years Eve.  

Lobster Bisque

This soup makes a wonderful first course for a fancy dinner, or even a meal on New Years Eve along with a bunch of appetizers.  

Lobster Pot Pie or Lobster Mac & Cheese

You can make these yourself, but why not treat yourself and order some delivered to your door to have a special treat without the effort.  You deserve it!  

Nairn's Oat Crackers & Cookies

When I was a teenager I worked at a cheese store at our local market.  The best part was getting to try all sorts of cheeses and crackers.  We sold Scottish oatcakes which were sweet, thick crackers that went great with cheese and jam.  

Nairn's was kind enough to send me some samples of their oat crackers and cookies.  They are wheat-free and high in fibre.  Both the crackers and cookies come wrapped in individual six-packs, which is a great way to keep them fresh.  

The traditional Scottish oat crackers came in organic, roughly milled and cheese flavours.  They are quite thick and hearty.  I like them best with a sweeter topping like creamy goat's cheese and fig jam.

Short & Sweet Sunday - Summer Memories

Remember summer?  Sitting on the deck, fresh vegetables and fruit for snacks.  A glass of wine.

Those are purple radishes!

And prosciutto-wrapped honeydew melon.  One of my all-time favourites.

Spring is here!  Soon it will be time for snacks on the deck again.  

Chicken Wing Cook-Off

Welcome to our first annual Super Bowl Chicken Wing Cook-Off!

We love chicken wings, but I'm not a big fan of deep frying in the house.  So Matt and I decided to try two methods of cooking wings that don't require frying but still make a crispy, tasty treat.  

I decided to make classic Buffalo wings, baked in the oven.  Matt tried dry-rubbed wings smoked on the grill.  Both turned out spicy and delicious.  

Gougères (Cheese Puffs)

It is the secret dream of my life to become a pastry chef. Pastry is usually considered more exact and less forgiving than savoury cooking and it appeals to my love of being careful and following rules.  Particularly, I would love to make croissants.  There's a course at the Cordon Bleu school in Ottawa on Viennoiseries (croissants, brioche) that I would love to attend.  

These little cheese puffs are made from pâte à choux.  The dough steams to create a light, fluffy puff that can be used to make cream puffs, profiteroles and éclairs.  Or you can add cheese like I did for a delicious, savoury treat.  

Vegas Happy Hour

Besides slot machines, one of our very favourite things about Vegas is happy hour.  If you don't live in Ontario, Canada like us, it may be hard to believe but we don't really have happy hour here.  

Half price drinks and snacks are a great way to save money in Vegas.  You can even make a meal of it.  Many bars and restaurants have happy hours.  Most fall somewhere between 2:00 and 7:00 pm.  I tried to plan a happy hour stop each day and even made a spreadsheet with different times and locations because that's just the kind of nut I am.

One happy hour stop was completely spontaneous though.  We were driving on Paradise, trying to get away from the strip traffic, when we happened to pass Gordon Biersch Brewery.  We noticed it was 3:00 and decided to check what they might have for happy hour.  Great choice!  We shared sliders and garlic fries and tried some beer and cocktails.  

Short & Sweet Sunday - Holiday Appetizers

Since it's the end of the year I'm planning a few roundup posts of things I've cooked this year that deserve a second look.  This will allow us to reflect back over the year and allow me to take some time off from cooking.  

If you're still looking for ideas for appetizers this holiday season, consider shrimp!  Two tasty appetizer posts are linked below - one simple as can be and the other a little more complex.  Enjoy!  

Shrimp Cocktail

This is so much nicer and and almost as easy as buying a frozen shrimp ring!  Give it a try.

Shrimp Summer Rolls

A little trickier but a lovely appetizer if you're having guests over.  Healthy too!