Zahra Cooks

Deviled eggs weren’t something I grew up with. We had hard-boiled eggs, soft-boiled eggs, scrambled eggs, fried eggs, but never deviled eggs.

Truth be told, I don’t even like the yolks in hard-boiled eggs.

The first time I bit into one of these lovely lovely things was actually last year. Neil’s now ex-boss invited us over for Easter and one of the other employees had made some. After eating fifteen of them, I decided I really was missing out by not having these as a part of my diet.

So now, here’s my version of deviled eggs. I’m sure you could add many other things to them, and I have, but I’m pretty fond of this recipe. Totally basic and un-frilly. Enjoy!

Zahra’s Deviled Eggs

5 eggs
3-4 tbsp ranch (or mayonnaise I suppose)
1 tsp dijon mustard, more to taste
salt and pepper to taste
paprika for garnish

1. Hard-boil your eggs. The easiest way to do this is to fill a pot with water and a tablespoon of vinegar. The vinegar helps keep everything contained in the egg in the unfortunate event that your egg cracks. Set all your eggs into the pot gently and place the pot over the stove and turn on the heat to medium-high. Let the water come to a boil for about a minute, and then turn off the heat. Let the eggs sit in the hot water for about 15 minutes. Trust me, you’ll have perfectly hard-boiled eggs every time!

2. Let your eggs cool and then peel them. Isn’t that fun?

look how shiny and bald they become!

3. With a sharp knife, split your eggs right down the middle.

4. Scoop out the yolks with a spoon and pop ‘em into another bowl.

and of course, set the whites onto a plate until you’re ready to fill ‘em.

5. Crumble the yolks with a fork and start adding the ranch or mayonnaise. Then, add the dash of mustard and season to taste with salt and pepper.

6. You can then pour the filling into a little Ziploc baggy and snip off the tip to use in filling the whites. Or, you could use a spoon. No one will tell.

Oh me oh my. They get incredibly creamy and fabulous.

I took a bite out of one before I had a chance to garnish them with paprika.

Try not to be like me. Garnish away for the bestest flavor!

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and that’s pretty dang exciting. (To my siblings, I can’t help but quote Nacho on a regular basis… thanks.)

My poor blog has been neglected for quite some time. But hey, new year, new resolutions, new recipes, new successes, new failures. Oh boy!

To start the new year off right, today’s recipe comes from a bruschetta I tried in the previous one.

I’ve tried numerous times to re-create the “caramelized onion and balsamic vinegar dip”. The internet was hardly useful. I kept coming across creamy dips meant for actual dipping, not this hearty flavorful oniony thing I had come to love.

But lo and behold, who knew that pretty much the only ingredients in the “dip” were the ones contained in its name?? I’m sharp. I know. I went to college.

So here you are, internet. My version of the lovely caramelized onion dip, in the form of bruschetta!

Caramelized Onion and Balsamic Vinegar Bruschetta
adapted from the version made by Angelika!

1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
pinch of salt

1. Start with some butter. Of course I would go for the “Mediterranean Blend”.

2. Over medium heat, combine the butter and olive oil in a saucepan. This will make sure your butter doesn’t burn but will give everything a nice brown color. Make sure your saucepan is peely and yucky looking. It’s not my fault! Santa just didn’t read my wish-list.

3. Dice up an onion. We’re gonna caramelize ‘em!

4. Wait until the butter/olive oil starts getting kinda frothy. When it looks like this, you’re ready to rock.

5. Pile in all the onion. Then spread it out evenly and let them chill for 3-4 minutes.

6. When they start looking sweaty (this process is called “sweating” apparently, how fitting), you can now start bouncing them around the saucepan.

7. But first, you want to add in about a teaspoon of salt. Rachel Ray said that this part helps the onions release more moisture and become sweeter. I trust Rachel Ray with my onions.

8. When they’re all flimsy and transparent looking, congratulations! You have caramelized onions! However, we’re gonna keep going since we’re making bruschetta.

9. Add in the balsamic vinegar one tablespoon at a time. Start with one…

10. And if you want more (I always want more) add in another tablespoon. I suppose you could add another one, but you don’t want to overpower it all.

11. Now turn down the heat just a notch and let it all reduce and get all dark and yummy looking.

*Note: if you overpower the dish with too much balsamic vinegar, have no fear! A dash of honey will fix it.

Toast up some bread and enjoy!

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