Chickens and their lovely eggs are part of my childhood.  My Mom had chickens and I have fond memories of helping my Mom on the ‘farm’.  Now I’m following in her footsteps and have a small flock of chickens that were mostly rescued from slaughter at factory farms by Animal Place.  They are sweet girls who have lived tragic lives and I am lucky to have them live with me AND they make a lot of eggs! People ask me all the time when I’m going to make some egg recipes with this abundance of eggs.  Well, here you go!  I have always liked deviled eggs so decided to come up with a trio of deviled eggs that include the basic recipe plus one with Southwestern flavors, like cumin, chili powder and cayenne pepper, and another taste sensation with lemon, capers and smoked salmon (just like you would put on a bagel but without the bagel)

 

If you have been following goodmotherdiet for a while, I will apologize for repeating myself but I think there is a lot of misinformation out there about the eggs that we buy from the market.

Interesting fact:  In the US eggs for sale are required to be washed, pastuerized (with heat) and then refrigerated.  In the UK eggs for sale are not allowed to be washed, pastuerized or refrigerated.  The reasoning is that the eggs are born with a ‘bloom’ that protects them from bacteria and procludes the need for refrigeration which reduced the nutrition.  The UK also wants to keep their farmers accountable for creating conditions that are clean enough that eggs don’t need to be washed.  What a concept!  United States, are you listening?

• REGULAR EGGS: These chickens are raised tightly together in cages stacked to the ceiling for the duration of their lives.  Their wings are clipped and they are debeaked to prevent pecking in such cramped conditions.  Don’t support these practices by buying these eggs. (See photo of my debeaked hen, Donette, below.  Her upper beak was cut off when she was a tiny chick and now she has trouble picking up food because she has been deprived of her most important tool. She is learning though and now she can RUN 🙂
• CAGE FREE: This only means that the chickens were not in cases. They can still be confined in very close quarters inside a building where they are standing in their own muck and can barely move. They have little or no access to the outdoors.
• FREE RANGE: According to the USDA regulation, “free range” only means that the chickens were allowed “access” to the outside with no specifications as the quality or the duration of that outside exposure. So unfortunately, this term is mostly used where the chickens are crammed in large warehouses that has a small door on one end that opens to a few feet of outside dirt space. Most of the chickens never even know that door exists and couldn’t get there even if they wanted to.
• PASTURE RAISED: Although it does not have any current regulations, it is being used by sustainable farmers to mean chickens raised in the outdoors..in the pasture. Pastured raised eggs are what we think they are. This is what you want to buy if you are shopping for eggs.

For those of you who are less concerned with animal welfare and more interested in nutrition, here is a photo of eggs from my hens who spend all day outside along with the paler yellow eggs from my newer hens who were just starting to eat ‘real’ food.  The darker yolks, not only have more flavor, they have a lot higher nutritional value. Regular store bought eggs will be even paler by comparison.

Donette, my former battery caged hen, debeaked and dewinged as a baby

My chickens have their own Facebook Page if you want to follow them.  They LOVE getting LIKES! I named their page in honor of my Mom, Mrs V’s Rescue Chickens (just copy and paste into URL).

So, lets get back to making devilled eggs.  I have provided a recipe for traditional devilled eggs, followed by a spicy Southwestern version and one with smoked salmon, lemon and capers.  Choose one or make them all!

TIPS: Devilled eggs are usually made by slicing the eggs in half the long way but I have a tray that keeps them perched straight up when I cut them in half.  I think they look cute, so feel free to break with the norm.  You can spoon the filling back into the eggs, or if you want to get fancy, pipe it in.  If you don’t have a piping tool, you can put the filling in a small plastic baggie and cut one of the corners off for a homemade tool. Just squeeze gently into whatever pattern or design you prefer.

Traditional Devilled Eggs

• Servings: 12
• Time: 30 minutes
• Difficulty: easy
• Print

CLASSIC DEVILED EGGS

6 large eggs

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

1 teaspoon prepared mustard

1 tsp vinegar

1/8 teaspoon salt

Dash of pepper

paprika (optional)

• Place eggs in a single layer in a saucepan; add water to cover eggs by 2 inches. Bring to a boil; cover, remove from heat, and let stand 15 minutes.
• Drain and fill the saucepan with cold water and ice.
• Peel and rinse eggs with cold water.
• Slice eggs in half, and carefully remove yolks.
• Mash yolks in a food processor or with a fork until smooth. Stir in mayonnaise, mustard, salt, and pepper; stir well.
• Spoon yolk mixture into egg whites. Garnish with paprika, if desired.