Perhaps you are looking for ways to use up all those boiled eggs. Or maybe you have been asked to bring an egg dish to an Easter brunch. First, some egg dishes you can still make for this year’s Easter breakfast or brunch:
Vegetarian Strata
Basic Frittatas, and More
Raspberry French Toast and Savory Breakfast Eggs with Vegetables
And then, the boiled eggs. I have not had to deal with an excess of boiled eggs over the years, thanks to my mother. Many years ago, well before I was born, she introduced the custom of “blowing eggs” in preparation for the coming Easter egg decoration. With a large family, there was no way we would have been able to eat all the hard-boiled eggs needed to satisfy the artistic endeavors of several kids.
Thus, every time she made anything with eggs in the weeks before Easter, the ice pick would come out, and we would take turns poking holes in each end of a well-washed egg and then blowing the contents into a cup before adding it to the batter. A big goal was to get the egg contents out with an unbroken yolk, while still keeping the holes as small as possible. After rinsing and draining, the eggs were then set aside, ready for the Easter Saturday egg decorating extravaganza.
Blown eggs can be very ornately decorated because they will not be immediately cracked and eaten. Inedible trims are not a problem either, so crayons, markers, glued on tissue paper, etc., are all fuel for the budding egg artists.
Now, when I bring out the old ice pick, the grandkids wonder what it is, they ask if it is safe to put their mouths on the shells, if we are sure the eggs have been washed…but then they enter into the process with gusto.
Since I didn’t start early enough with the egg blowing, there are another dozen and a half “real”–boiled–eggs for coloring as well. Still some more decorating of the hollow eggs before we slip strings into them to tie on a bush in the front for our own Easter egg tree.
The boiled eggs are already in the refrigerator; some will be used for a batch of egg salad filling. The rest will become part of a salad or two during the coming week. For a couple of recipes, including a very unusual one, go to the following link.
And the egg salad? Here’s my quick recipe. It is best on homemade rolls, with lots of new garden lettuce or baby spinach to add texture and crunch.
6 hard boiled eggs, chopped
1/4 to 1/3 c plain nonfat yogurt
1 T sugar
1 to 2 t prepared yellow or brown mustard
seasoning salt to taste (optional)
sprinkle of freshly ground black pepper
good hard rolls or homemade buns
1. Peel and coarsely chop the eggs. Use a pastry blender or fork, OR use an egg slicer and cut the eggs first in one direction and then in another.
2. Stir in the remaining ingredients and taste. Your family may prefer a little more or less mustard, a little more or less sugar. Adjust as needed.
Six eggs will make enough for six good sized sandwiches.
Variations:
Use equal amounts of honey mustard dressing and yogurt, omitting the other seasonings.
Add small amounts of finely chopped onion (red onion gives this a lovely color contrast), bell pepper, celery, or grated carrot.