Deviled Eggs, Three Ways

There was the lobster salad, a big bag of potato chips and some cookies I'd received in the mail. Was that enough to feed four people? I'd need some kind of appetizer. I didn't have time to go to the store. What did I have in my refrigerator? Pesto, a jar of cornichons, and Sriracha. And eggs. A plan began to form in my head, a plan involving eggs and THE DEVIL.

These are my deviled eggs, three ways:

You may be thinking to yourself: "What an elaborate presentation! How in the world did you pull that off?!"

Frankly, it was easy. I put six eggs in a pot. I filled it with cold water so the eggs were covered by at least an inch. I added a big fat pinch of salt and brought the water to a real boil (not a timid boil; that's the trick, I think). When it was boiling, I took the pan off the heat, put the lid on and let it sit 15 minutes. Other cooks will tell you 12 minutes, but in my past deviled egg-making experiences 12 minutes made the eggs harder to peel and the whites a bit too soft.

Once the 15 minutes pass, you drop the eggs into ice water to shock them and then you peel them under the faucet (the water pressure helps the shell come off). And there you have it: 6 eggs ready for you to slice in half and to do with them as you will.

So slice them all in half vertically. If you're serving four people, as I was, take four halves and put their yolks into a bowl. Now it's time to get creative. I happened to have homemade pesto on hand, so I added a big dollop of pesto to the yolks, a dash of mayo, lemon juice, salt and pepper. I mashed it all together, tasted it, liked it and spooned it into the hollowed out egg whites. On top I put some plain pesto to make it a little more visually striking.

I cleaned that bowl well then took the next four eggs and put their yolks in the same bowl. To those yolks I added mustard, mayo, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Mashed, tasted (yum!) and spooned back into the whites. On top of each I placed a cornichon and sprinkled with smoked paprika. Another work of art.

Finally, I took the last four yolks, put them in a bowl with a big squeeze of Sriracha, mayo and lime juice. (I found that recipe online). Do it to taste because Sriracha is spicy. When you like how it tastes, spoon back into the whites and if you have cilantro, put a cilantro leaf on each egg. I didn't have cilantro so I tried to make a fancy red dot with the Sriracha bottle but I think that it's the weakest part of my presentation. I should be docked 4 points.

This dish may not seem like much, but I was pretty proud of it. What's your favorite way to gussy up a deviled egg? Let me know in the comments and I'll use it at my next dinner party.