November 2nd is Deviled Egg Day

November 2nd is apparently Deviled Egg Day, and though that’s mighty exciting, and I like deviled eggs as much as anyone, I don’t know that I’d give them a whole day. When my daughter was in pre-school (and there were more pot-lucks than anyone should have to endure) I was the deviled egg mom. I make an excellent deviled egg! And if I’d planned better I’d have worked on some great recipes for you, but alas, October has been a month I’ve let life happen to me, no planning for November at all. To make up for my lack of recipes though, I’ll share some of my super fabulous, professional chef deviled egg tricks with you.

1. Start with a perfectly boiled egg. Put eggs into a pot filled with cold, well salted water, add 1 tsp of baking soda (this will make the eggs peel like a dream). Bring water to a boil over medium heat. When water starts to boil, cover pot, remove from heat and let sit for 13 minutes.
2. To make generously filled eggs make two more eggs than you need, and discard the whites of those. Before I discovered the baking soda trick these were always the eggs that got messed up when I peeled them. I have also seen Anne Burrell make deviled eggs that stand up, which are cool, but you get one deviled egg not two per egg.
3. I like to make the bottom of each egg flat so they sit. To do this use a peeler to remove a thin slice from the rounded bottom of the egg.
4. Using a star tip to pip the filling into the eggs is very pretty, but if you’re going to do this use a large star tip, and make sure your yolk mixture is very smooth. One way to do this is to press the yolks through s strainer.
5. You can add all kinds of spices to the yolk mixture; curry powder, truffle oil, smoked paprika or cayenne
6. If you’re adding fresh herbs, use those as a garnish, as they can get stuck in the piping tip. Dill and tarragon are perfect for deviled eggs, as are scallion, or thinly sliced mushroom.
7. Of course crumbled bacon, diced avocado, crab, minced ham, anchovies, or tiny niçoise olives can dress up your eggs.
8. Don’t be afraid to go old school with just mayonnaise, mustard, salt and pepper, topped with a sprinkle of paprika, everyone loves deviled eggs!

Do you have a favorite deviled egg recipe, or secret ingredient that make yours the best deviled eggs?