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.
Instead of the usual mayonnaise and mustard, these deviled eggs are made with cream cheese and cider vinegar and are particularly tasty if you or someone you know doesn’t care for mayonnaise. I also love the briny cornichons topping, a change from the traditional chives garnish, complimenting the creaminess of the egg filling.
Use regular cream cheese, never whipped.
Deviled Eggs
yields 24 deviled eggs
Ingredients
12 large eggs
3 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
Kosher salt
6 cornichons, finely chopped
Freshly ground black pepper
Extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
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 stand for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, 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. Peel the eggs and slice them in half, lengthwise.
Remove the yolks from each half and place in a medium bowl. Smash yolks with a fork. Add cream cheese, vinegar and a large pinch of salt and mix until well combined. Taste for seasoning and adjust as you see fit.
Place a piece of plastic wrap over the surface of the yolk mixture. Chill mixture and egg white halves for 30 minutes, or up to overnight.
To serve, spoon equal amounts of the yolk mixture into the egg white halves. Top each deviled egg with chopped cornichons, a little black pepper and a drizzle of olive oil.
Enjoy these Deviled Eggs as part of our Fall Cocktail Bites menu.