My husband is crazy for egg salad so I make it often. I always use an egg slicer, cutting the egg once lengthwise, then rotating the sliced egg and cutting it again to make a perfect dice. This gets mixed with mayonnaise, a little Dijon, minced radishes, celery, green onion and a sprinkling of parsley or dill.
It’s the kind of sandwich that’s perfect for a tea party, in that case you’d serve it on Wonder Bread, and removing the crust would be de rigeur. I prefer it on a slice of soft French bread that’s been toasted though, served up with a bottle of Tabasco on the side. Toast and eggs! It’s breakfast for lunch.
At Chez Piggy in Kingston, they used to have an “Egg and Anchovy” sandwich on the menu, served on a beautiful baguette, this sandwich was a favourite of founder Zal Yanovzki’s. My husband used to be crazy for this sandwich but I think him and Zal were a pretty small fan club. In the six months that I worked there we sold exactly one.
Deviled eggs are always a treat at picnics and barbeques, and are always one of the first h’ors d’oeuvres we run out of. Slice the egg from narrow to fat end and remove the yolk. It’s true, there are more variations on the Deviled egg than there are devils. Let your imagination run with this one, I mixed in some mashed avocado once and served it with cold slices of prosciutto for green eggs and ham! It was a fun, bright and delicious hit! In the new cookbook I’m working on I recommend using mashed butternut or kabocha squash to bulk up the yolky filling. It tastes great, gives the filling a lovely golden hue and it’s good for you. Win win.
Mix up the yolk with a little mayonnaise and chives, maybe some very finely diced red pepper. Or pickles. Or anchovy! Or a little curry. Then spoon, or if you are feeling fancy, use a pastry bag or the snipped corner of a plastic bag to pipe the yolk mixture back into the whites. Serve chilled.
Finally, I like to used sliced or quartered hard boiled eggs in three different old school salads. The first is the classic spinach salad with bacon, raw sliced button mushrooms and thin slices of red onion tossed with a pungent mustard seed-studded vinaigrette. Then there’s the chef’s salad (pictured above) with batons of aged cheddar and ham, chopped tomatoes and radishes all arranged on top of some Boston Bibb and usually served with a creamy Ranch-style dressing. And finally the Nicoise (pictured below) made with the tiny olives, boiled new potatoes, blanched haricot verts, tomatoes, tuna and maybe a few anchovies. None of these salads would be complete without the hardboiled egg.
