Cooking @ Home: Double-Mustard Deviled Eggs

In the musical genre, a “diss track” is a song whose primary purpose is to be a single volley in an ongoing feud with someone else, usually another artist. You can consider this month’s column as me doing exactly that to a friend of mine, who I know is reading this, and who I am certain knows who he is.

To be fair, I told him at the time that there was a significant danger of exactly this happening if he kept saying what he was saying, which was that Deviled Eggs are so boring of a food that you may as well just buy them pre-made from the grocery store, because they are bland, always the same and can’t be good.

“I like Deviled Eggs,” he said. “It’s just that they’re all the same. Egg, mustard, mayo, pickle relish, paprika. You can’t make it any different or it’s not a Deviled Egg anymore, so why go to the effort to make them when you can just buy them anywhere?”

“Not only do I think you’re wrong, but I think I got an idea for a future ‘Cooking @ Home’ column,” I said. So, he was warned well in advance.

Now here I am, out to prove that I can make a much tastier Deviled Egg than the store-bought variety. Part of that is the double hit of mustard-y goodness that comes from using both Dijon mustard as well as mustard powder. I have made Deviled Eggs with either of these on their own in the past, but together, they are wonderful. I also opted not to use any sweet pickle relish and instead went with savory pickle flavors by adding a little dill to the mixture, which is subtle but very noticeable, and topping with the briny bite of a few capers.

Oh, and a little tip for you. There’s any number of ways to cook hard boiled eggs, but ever since I discovered that I could pressure cook them for five minutes at high pressure, my life was permanently improved. Not just because they come out consistently good every time, but because I have never successfully boiled stovetop eggs and not had at least one crack and make unplanned egg drop soup. If you have an electric pressure cooker, I highly recommend it.

Alex Gallegos is an enthusiastic home cook who enjoys trying new recipes and learning new techniques. Find this recipe and others like it at PlatefulsOfFlavors.com.