In college, my roommates and I used to hard boil eggs by a placing eggs in boiling water and coming back for them 25 minutes later. They eggs were always over cooked with grayish yolks. Thankfully those days are long gone and I’ve graduated to a method for perfectly cooked hard boiled eggs that produce beautiful yolks. Unfortunate boiled egg tidbit: the fresher the egg the harder it is to peel off the shell. If you have eggs that have been sitting in your refrigerator for a while, hard boiling them is a great use.
I am always fascinated by the deep pink hue the fresh beet dyes the egg whites. It’s so bright every time! You can leave the eggs in the beet and vinegar mixture for up to 24 hours, they will continue to develop a stronger color and pickled flavor, but I prefer them brined for just 4 hours. The outer rim of the egg is pink in color with just a hint of cider vinegar. Be careful with the brine, anything involving a red beet easily stains.
Recipe easily doubles for a crowd (both the eggs and brine). Use a large saucepan or pot to boil a dozen eggs.
Beet-Brined Deviled Eggs
yields 12 deviled eggs
Ingredients
6 large eggs
3/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 large beet (about 8 ounces), peeled and cut into quarters
Kosher salt
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh chives
Place eggs in a large saucepan or pot and fill with enough cold water to cover. Bring water to a boil and boil for 1 minute. Remove saucepan from heat and cover with a tight fitting lid. Let eggs stand for 10 minutes in the hot water.
Prepare an ice bath in a large bowl. Remove eggs from saucepan and place them in ice bath until they are cool enough to handle (you can hard boil eggs and refrigerate for up to 1 week in advance).
In a medium saucepan bring cider vinegar, 2 cups water, beet quarters and 1 teaspoon salt to a boil. Remove from heat and allow mixture to cool.
Peel the eggs and carefully place in the cooled vinegar and beet brine (mixture easily stains!). Refrigerate for at least 4 hours and up to 24, occasionally turning eggs over with a spoon if brine does not completely cover them.
Remove eggs from brine and slice in half, lengthwise. Gently remove yolks from each egg half and place in a medium bowl. Smash yolks with a fork. Add mayonnaise, mustard and a pinch of salt and mix until well combined (it’s OK if the mixture is a little lumpy). Taste for seasoning and adjust as you see fit.
To serve, spoon equal amounts of the yolk mixture into the pink egg halves. Top each deviled egg with chives.