Dad's Egg Salad and My Kickass Deviled Eggs

My father is known throughout the mountaintops of the Adirondacks for making the best post-hike egg salad sandwiches you've ever had. Everything tastes good in the mountain breeze after a 5-mile hike, but his sandwiches are beyond compare at any altitude. Recently I took his recipe for the perfect hard boiled eggs, and adapted a newly created recipe of my own for the world's best deviled eggs. I didn't measure anything, so the portions below are estimates. Deviled eggs, like everything, should really be made to taste. Add or subtract anything you like.

Dad’s Egg Salad

12 eggs
Mayonnaise
Salt/Pepper
spices (optional) such as dill, parsley, cayenne, etc.

Cover 12 eggs with well-salted water (it helps the shells come off) to 1 inch above them in the pot. Heat the water from cold to boiling with eggs in it, and once boiling, boil for 15 min. Dump out most of the water, keeping the eggs in the pot, and immediately run cold water over the eggs continuously, knocking them gently against the edge of the pot here and there for 4-5 min. Peel the eggs, trying to get your finger under thin membrane beneath the shell. Put the eggs back in cold running water as you peel them. Wipe off the eggs with a paper towel, and put them in the fridge for a few hours (**this step isn't really necessary if you cool them down enough in the running water or add ice to the water and let them sit for 15 min**). Make sure the eggs are dry, and finely dice or use an egg slicer in 3 different directions. In a bowl, add a teaspoon of salt spread evenly, fresh pepper, and Hellman’s light mayonnaise. Stir in carefully, and add other spices if you want.

Kickass Deviled Eggs

12 eggs
(all these measurements below are estimates! taste and experiment as you go along)
1 cup Mayonnaise (I use Hellman's Light Mayonnaise)
2.5 tbsp fresh horseradish (in the chilled section at the supermarket)
2 tbsp mild dijon mustard
2 tbsp pickle juice (poured from a jar of kosher dill pickles)
1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
salt pepper to taste
paprika as garnish

Use the recipe above for perfect hard-boiled eggs. Now, instead of chopping the cooled, peeled eggs, slice them in half and deposit the yolks in a separate bowl. Add mayonnaise, mustard, pickle juice, worcestershire, salt, and pepper to the bowl with the yolks and mash until smooth and creamy (a mashed potato masher or food processer work well here). As I said, all of this is to taste, so add more of whatever you feel is missing. I like lots of creaminess (mayonnaise) and lots of spice so my above estimates are conservative. Using a spoon (or if you're a fancy-pants like me, a pastry bag), distribute the creamy yolk goodness evenly to the cavities of the halved hard-boiled egg whites. Sprinkle paprika (and if you want extra color some freshly-chopped chives or parsley leaves) as a garnish. Serve room temp or chilled. Yum.

Mushroom Egg Drop Soup

Since it has been winter for several months now, and the aroma of meaty, hearty, fragrant mushrooms have been permeating New York restaurants awaiting summer produce, I have found myself desperately craving fungi. So yesterday when I saw a recipe for mushroom soup, I thought "I must." Then a few minutes later I saw a recipe for egg drop soup and I thought, "Even better!" And then I got tired of looking at recipes and decided to create my own amongst these fortuitous inspirations. Here is the fan-frickin'-tastic result of my mad scientist experimentation:

12 cups water
2 carrots (peeled)
2 celery stalks
1 onion (quartered)
2 bay leaves
2 cloves garlic
2 oz dried porcini mushrooms
1.5 cups egg noodles
4 eggs
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp sesame oil
1.5 lb fresh mushrooms
1 cup white wine
¼ cup fish sauce
¼ cup (or more) soy sauce
1 tbsp chili garlic or sriracha

Fill a stock pot with 12 cups of water. Add carrots, celery, onion, broccoli stalk (optional), bay leaves, garlic, dried porcinis, and a little salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, covered, and allow to simmer for 45 min.

While the stock is simmering, cook egg noodles per instruction and set aside. Beat 4 eggs and set aside. And sauté the fresh mushrooms in olive oil and sesame oil, removing the liquid from the sauté into the stock as it seeps from the mushrooms, so they brown instead of boiling (cooking in a wok is best for this). After 10-12 minutes when the mushrooms have browned slightly, add the white wine and fish sauce and allow to simmer for 5 min.


Strain the stock to remove the vegetables, but take the porcinis out of the vegetables and return to stock. Add mushroom/white wine mixture to stock, and allow to simmer 15 more minutes. During this time, check seasoning, and add salt/pepper, soy sauce, and chili garlic/sriracha to taste. Go light on the last ingredient or it will overpower the flavor of the broth.

Bring the soup back up to a simmer, and finally add the beaten eggs in a very slow steady stream, while stirring vigorously so that they break apart into very small strands. Add the egg noodles. Taste/season again. Serves 8.