Deviled Eggs

While working on this post, I decided to do some research on Deviled Eggs so did a Google search. There must be hundreds of recipes out there…some look very good and others, well…… Did you know that the deviled egg originated in ancient Rome and that in the Netherlands and Germany they are usually filled with Caviar and served with a remoulade sauce? Think I’ll pass on that one….They are a common dish in the United States and are served as an appetizer in the Midwest and South and are so popular that special carriers have been made to transport them, and that they can be purchased in the supermarket. Not surprised by this and I do have a couple of those egg carriers but have yet to purchase them at a supermarket….that kind of scares me a little.

Once again, this is another dish that my sister Dorothea makes that my family and I love and that we expect her to bring to our family parties. I think that if she was to show up at the door without these or potato salad, she would be refused entry. When I asked her how she made these, I did this at the same time I asked about her potato salad, I was again given a list of ingredients.

So here is my version of:

Dorothea's Deviled Eggs
Print Recipe

1 1/2 - 2 dozen hard boiled eggs, peeled and cut in half (I like to use Jumbo but any size will do)
1 - 1 1/2 cup Miracle Whip Salad Dressing (depends on how many eggs you use and how dry/wet you like your filling)
2 tablespoons sweet pickle relish, or to taste
1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce, or to taste
mustard (optional)
paprika (optional)

Cut eggs in half and remove yolk. Mash the yolk either using a fork, food processor or food mill.
Mix in the Miracle Whip, sweet pickle relish and worcester sauce.
Fill holes in eggs with yolk mixture.
If desired, Sprinkle with a little Paprika.
Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour.
Note: Dorothea says that she sometimes puts a little squirt of yellow mustard in the filling....mostly for color than anything else.

Here is another recipe where I use Miracle Whip...as I said in my potato salad post, this what my sister uses and I want my eggs to taste like hers. The Worcestershire sauce is a nice touch....adds a little zip to the taste.

Whenever I made deviled eggs at my mom's house, I would take my food processor along with me. One day while at my sister Jean's house, I noticed that she was using her food mill to mash egg yolks for deviled eggs....I don't know why I never thought of this....Mom had a food mill. After that, I left my big old heavy food processor at home. It works great!

Doesn't this look nice?

Combine mashed egg yolks, Miracle Whip, worcestershire sauce and sweet pickle relish.

I like to use a pastry bag and tip to fill my eggs...I think it takes less time and not as messy. Since I wasn't making these at my house, I didn't have a pastry bag and tip so had to improvise........

I took a food storage bag, put filling in the bag and used a pair of scissors to cut a small hole in the end of the bag.

Sprinkle with a little paprika then put in the fridge to chill for a bit. These are sooooo good...bet you can't eat just one.

Cheese Ball

I always thought there was something mysterious about making a cheese ball.....

For years a cheese ball and crackers was served at our holiday meals...my sister, Dorothea, would stop by the Marsh Supermarket and pick up two cheese balls, one that had been rolled in pecans and one that hadn't been. We all loved eating them and even looked forward to them, almost as much as the chicken and dumplings, ham, dressing, turkey, etc.,.....until one year when my sister said that she could no longer buy them. I can't remember if it was because Marsh no longer made them or whether it was when Marsh became LoBills, I don' t know for sure...never the less we had to do without our yummy cheese balls. Heaven forbid one of us look up a recipe and prepare one. Why no one did, I don't know, my mother and my sisters were good cooks so I'm surprised that they never did. This was when I was in my teens and early 20's and wasn't interested in cooking, so I certainly wasn't going to try to make one. So we just did without...

Many, many years later....on my 40th birthday to be exact, the two women I shared an office with and our student employee, surprised me with a small party. Cake, ice cream and Robin, our student employee, came in with a cheese ball and crackers. It had been a long time...as soon as I took my first bite, I was hooked again...cheese ball was back in my life. I immediately asked Robin to share her recipe and she did...she's always been my favorite student....I'm not sure if it's because she was a nice young woman or because of the cheese ball. LOL...we do share a common interest in our love of food.

Robin, if you see this, we still have to get together for lunch or dinner, it has been over a year now.

So, our next family gathering saw the return of the cheese ball to our menu (kind of like the return of the McRib at McDonalds), and I don't think it's been off of it in the last....ahem, I hate to admit that I'm so old, 12 years. It's nothing special or difficult but you can't beat the basic, green onion and dried beef ball..yeah!

2 packages cream cheese (8-oz.)

4 green onions
2 small packages dried beef or 1 large, chopped
1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp. soy sauce
1/4 tsp. Tabasco (pepper sauce)

Chop onions and beef. Mix together the cream cheese, the three sauces, onions and beef. Save some of the beef to put on the cheese ball.

I didn't take pictures to document each step, one, because I forgot and two, it really isn't difficult. I just get out my chef's knife cutting board and just chop the onion and dried beef into small pieces. One hint that I do have is that you don't have to, but should you decide to roll the cheese ball in some of the dried beef, I've found that it's easier to do if the cheese ball has been chilled for a few hours.

In memory of Robin Russell Grimsley who passed away unexpectedly on November 30, 2009

Crispy Baked Ravioli

Here is another savory recipe. Hey, a woman can't live on desserts alone....even though she would like to. I made this for lunch yesterday and served it with a marinara sauce for dipping - it was yummy! I got this recipe from another one of my BakeSpace friends, Vicki (dutchmom4).

Frozen ravioli, thawed and uncooked *
Italian dressing
Italian bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Dip ravioli in Italian dressing. Coat with bread crumbs.
Bake 10 to 18 minutes, depending on the size of the ravioli.

Serve with marinara sauce, ketchup, ranch dressing, etc....

Vicki's Notes

*NOTE 1: I've, also, made this with frozen cheese rigatoni (filling - ricotta, parmesan, and romano cheese). Yum!

* NOTE 2: Some people boil the frozen pasta and let it cool for 10 minutes before dipping in dressing and coating with bread crumbs. I omitted this step with the rigatoni without a problem.