Tuesday Treat: Bacon Cheddar Deviled Eggs

Easter is coming up and I hate holiday get-togethers. Drama, messes, and a house full of people. My anxiety levels go up just thinking about it. But what I do enjoy is the food. Well, some of it anyways.

One of my favorite family dinner staples is deviled eggs. I can't make them worth a damn (I fail at peeling the hard-cooked eggs) but my mom and my grandma can make deviled eggs that are out of this world. I found a recipe for bacon cheddar ones that I'm going to beg someone to make this year.



Ingredients:
12 eggs
1/2 cup mayonnaise
4 slices of bacon
2 tablespoons finely shredded cheese
1 tablespoon mustard

Directions:

1. Hard-boil the eggs. Put them in a pan of cold water and bring to a boil. Remove them from the heat as soon as they boil, cover the pan, and let the eggs sit for 10-12 minutes. Remove the eggs from the water and let them cool to room temperature or run them under cold water.
2. While the eggs are cooking, brown the bacon on both sides. You'll want them to be firm enough to be crumbled. You can also cook them in the microwave for about a minute per slice of bacon.
3. Peel the eggs and cut them in half lengthwise. Remove the yolks to a bowl and mix in the mayonnaise, bacon, cheese, and mustard. Mix it really well and then fill the egg white halves full with your mixture. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Ideas:

• My family only uses real Mayo. Keep in mind that it will result in a different taste than using the other kind.
• If it is a family gathering of more than 4 or 5 people, a dozen eggs will probably not be enough. Double, triple, quadruple, etc. the recipe as needed.
• My grandmother insists that the best way to get the eggs to peel without tearing up half of the egg white is to get eggs a couple weeks ahead of time. Look for eggs that are set to expire just a day or two after your gathering. I don't know if this is true or not but her egg whites never get jacked up like mine do so I'm leaning toward her being correct.
• This recipe doesn't call for pepper, salt, celery, onions, or paprika... which is something that I have always seen my family use. Make your own judgement call on that one. I know my grandmother will insist on using onions, as everything apparently tastes better with onions. And the bacon is probably going to make salt pointless so maybe let everyone salt to taste.
• I like spicy foods so I would personally use spicy mustard instead of regular yellow mustard.
• Not everyone likes the flavor of mild cheddar cheese. Use a sharp cheddar or spring for something that is more universally appealing. Colby-Jack sounds awesome to me!
• Don't want to take the time to cook and crumble the bacon? Use bacon bits! Excellent alternative. You can get it as turkey bacon too if you are hoping to make it a little healthier or if you/your family doesn't eat pork.