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.