7-5 smoky deviled eggs

Background - After a few days of heavy caloric intake, I started looking through my favorite cookbook, "Cook This, Not That" to find some healthier meal options. One of the pages I had tagged included a recipe for smoky deviled eggs. I LOVE deviled eggs, and couldn't think of a better brunch for me, myself, and I. All the recipes in "Cook This, Not That" feature healthy alternatives to chain restaurant offerings. This recipe was created to rival a HALF-ORDER of T.G.I. Friday's Loaded Potato Skins (1,310 calories...for a HALF-ORDER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) Scroll to the bottom of this post for the nutrition info for this recipe.

I couldn't find the exact same recipe online, so I'm including the entire recipe on my post. I halved the original recipe. Here's the original recipe:

Ingredients:
8 eggs
1/4 cup olive oil mayonnaise
1/2 tbsp dijon mustard
2 tsp canned chipotle pepper
salt and black pepper to taste
paprika (preferably the smoked Spanish-style paprika called pimenton)
2 strips bacon, cooked and finely crumbled

How the doggies looked before I started cooking this morning:

How to make it (straight from the book...no disrespect intended with my plagiarism...consider it flattery)
1) Bring a pot or large saucepan of water to a full boil. Carefully lower the eggs into the water and cook for 8 minutes. Drain and immediately place in a bowl of ice water. When the eggs have cooled, peel them while still in the water (the water helps the shell slide off).
2) Cut the eggs in half and scoop out the yolks. Combine the yolks with the mayo, mustard, chipotle, and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Stir to combine thoroughly. Scoop the mixture into a sealable plastic bag, pushing it all the way into one corner. Cut a small hole in the corner. Squeeze to pipe the yolk mixture back into the whites. Top each with a sprinkle of paprika and a bit of crumbled bacon.

I put the eggs in the water while it was still cold and let it come to a boil. I then reduced the heat to medium and let the eggs sit for 12 minutes. I then put them in cold water and put them in the fridge while I cooked the bacon. Egg yolks came out perfectly cooked.


When making bacon, I do not fry it in a pan. Back when I was a teenager, I worked at a mountain camp as a prep cook. Judy, the head chef, used to cook bacon on sheet pans in the oven, because of the large amount she needed to make at once. I took this strategy home and I find that this produces flat, evenly cooked, crispy bacon.

Also, if you put aluminum foil underneath the bacon, and then leave the pan to cool on its own after cooking, the grease re-solidifies and all you have to do is take the aluminum foil off the pan and throw it and the grease away. The pan stays clean!


Here are photos of my progress.

These are the chipotle peppers. You buy them in a can in the Latin Foods aisle and use a little bit at a time. They stay good in the fridge for months!

Chipotle pepper finely chopped. Very smoky...not too spicy.

When putting the mixture in the bag, fold it over your hand. It makes it easy for you to pull the mixture off the scraper and keep your hands and the top of the bag clean.

I highly recommend purchasing smoked paprika. It has better flavor than regular paprika, and is great not only on deviled eggs but pulled pork too! I used the smoked paprika to make pulled pork for my school staff's dinner a few years ago, and it was a huge hit!

The bacon will chop better if you take it out before it's too crispy. By the way, I cooked the bacon in my toaster oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes with the convection option on. I took it out with about 3 minutes left and it came out just right so I could chop it without it crumbling.

For the dog lovers, who are more interested in the dogs than the recipe...and now.....the REST of the story...

Leftover bacon...

Leftover bacon in dog bowls...

Frustrated dogs waiting to eat bacon while I take a picture of them...

Happy dogs eating bacon!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


I think the smoky deviled eggs recipe is full of flavor. It's probably a bit spicy for little kids, but it's very good for mature taste buds! By the way, there's even better news. Here's the nutrition info:


Original recipe makes 4 servings. Per serving:
220 calories
17 grams of fat (4 grams saturated)
370 mg. sodium


Not bad...


Please let me know if you like this post, try the recipe, or appreciate the tips and tricks.