Southern Deviled Eggs

Went to a party over the weekend and my friend Jaimee's favorite food is deviled eggs. This is my classic recipe that I tweak if I need to! I basically make the eggs and then add ingredients to taste. ALWAYS taste your food before serving! Enjoy

RECIPE:

9 large eggs (or however many you chose, just change the amounts)

1/3 cup mayo

1 1/2 T dijon mustard

2 tsp apple cider

salt and pepper to taste

2 tsp scallions minced (white part only- and I usually add more)

2 tsp fresh tarragon minced (plus extra for garnish)

paprika to taste

DIRECTIONS:

boil the eggs. do it the way YOU were taught. I was taught so many ways, that I make them different every time. All I can say is the same always is to chill quickly by running cold water on them and putting ice on top. chill as cool as possible to stop cooking and to peel immediately.

cut eggs in half lengthwise. Put yolks in a bowl and mash. Add mayo, mustard, vinegar, salt pepper and paprika (can use as a garnish only if you want). Make as smooth or as chunky as you want. Spoon into a piping bag or a ziploc bag and cut the top. Pipe into eggs. Garnish with tarragon and paprika. cover til you are ready to serve!

sorry i didn't take pictures! I was running late and forget :) Picture a creamy egg! hahah. enjoy

Apology!

Hey friends. I have no clue how many people are reading this blog or not...but for those of you who do, I have to apologize for this upcoming week. I am working M-F from 6-2 in waukegan and then packing because I am moving on Saturday! WOOHOO! Which not only means that I am busy packing, but all of my kitchen will be packed :( trust me, this is sadder for me than you can even imagine! I will TRY to bake at least once because I don't know if I can go the whole week without it!!! In any case, instead, I am reading a great book about facts that you would never know about food! So I am going to post a tidbit daily that HOPEFULLY you didn't know about! Maybe we can all learn together! Here is todays:

Is there a nutritional difference between dark meat and light meat on a chicken?

Dark meat (the leg, thigh, and back) has two to ten percent more calories than does the light meat (the breast), depending on the bird; fryers are more caloric than roasters. (fyi- fryer is a chicken between 6-8 wks old and weigh between 3-4.5 lbs. roasters are between 2-6 months and can reach up to 8 lbs). Dark meat also has slightly less protein and about 1/3 more fat. Both are low in cholesterol and supply comparable amounts of A and B vitamins and calcium!

Have a great sunday!!!

Mushroom Soup

With the weather changing, oh and having a plethora of mushrooms in the house, I decided to come up with a mushroom soup recipe to warm me up! (and something I can eat!!) I looked at a bunch of recipes, but after doing that I decided to combine a bunch of them and make my own. Here is what I did cause sometimes when I cook I don't measure too well :)

I started with approximately 2 T butter and melted it in a stock pot. Once bubbling I added 1 chopped shallot, 3 chopped garlic cloves, and the white part of a leek chopped. I sauteed them til golden brown. Then I added 10 oz chopped crimini (baby bella) mushrooms sliced, and 5 oz shitake sliced. I cooked them for maybe 5 minutes and then I added a box (32 fl oz) of vegetable stock along with 2 tsp dried thyme. I then let it simmer for almost 20 minutes and then added about 1/2 (approx- maybe more. Depends on how creamy you want it) cup skim milk/cream/half and half (i used what I had in the house!) Then I made a slurry (a mixture of water and a thickening agent) using 1 tsp tapioca starch (can use corn starch or flour) and 1 T water. The reason you mix this first is so it doesn't clump in the soup. Then slowly add it to the soup while stirring. The soup then simmers a bit more and you will see it thicken. You may need more of this slurry depending on how thick you want your soup. Once fragrant or tastes enough like mushrooms (and this is up to you as well) then turn off the heat and mix it with an immersion blender, or you can use a blender just be careful because it's HOT!!!! Add salt, pepper, and spices to your taste and Voila! To present it, I whipped some heavy cream, made a quenelle (food item in the shape of an oval or egg) and topped it with thyme. I wish I could explain how to make a quenelle but it's difficult. Find it on an online video or something :) Oh and enjoy the soup- I did!