Cook, Chill, Blend, Dip!

In my last recipe, Egg Salad Waldorf, I hard-cooked eggs using my fool-proof method (see the previous blog entry for details). Just the other day, I hard-cooked eggs again to make an Egg n’ Bacon Dip. No kitchen disasters… I think I’m really getting the hang of this.

To save time making this dip, I decided to get the half dozen eggs cooking in the pot at the same time as I did the bacon (6-8 slices). I actually heard of a great trick from a friend about cooking bacon. Take a cookie sheet, line it with parchment paper and put your bacon strips on top. Place it in the oven at 375°F (190°C) for about 10 minutes or until the bacon is crispy. This method is great because you don’t get oil splashes from the bacon and the clean-up is really easy! The parchment paper collects all of the bacon drippings – just be careful when you throw out the parchment paper. Try this method out for yourself and leave me a comment on how you thought it worked.

After the eggs were cooked and peeled, and the bacon was crispy, I cut up each egg into four pieces and chopped up the bacon. I put the eggs and bacon in a re-sealable container, and mixed in all of the other ingredients (Worcestershire, butter, Tabasco, mustard, green onion, mayo, lemon juice). I put the lid on my container and set it in the fridge overnight. The recipe calls to leave it in the refrigerator for just 4 hours, but I wasn’t ready to serve it just yet.

When I took the mixture out of the fridge, I blended it until smooth. It took me a little while longer than most..my poor blender, it really has seen better days! 

I served my dip with whole wheat crackers. It tasted good, but was a little too much onion flavour for my liking. Personally, I would put in about half of the onion. My fiancé, on the other-hand, loved it as is. So give this recipe a try and let me know what you think. Egg n’ Bacon Dip is just four easy steps… cook, chill, blend, dip!

See below for the full Egg n’ Bacon Dip recipe details:

Ingredients:
6-8 slices crisp bacon, crumbled
6 hard-cooked eggs
2 tsp (10 mL) Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp (15 mL) soft butter
4 drops Tabasco sauce
1 tsp (5 mL) mustard
2 tbsp (30 mL) chopped green onion
½ cup (125 mL) Mayonnaise
1 tsp (5 mL) lemon juice

Instructions:
Cut each egg into four pieces and mix with bacon and other ingredients. Chill in the refrigerator for four hours. A few minutes before serving, remove from refrigerator and whip in blender or food processor until creamy smooth. Serve as dip with crackers, tortilla chips, or any fresh raw vegetables.

Visit www.eggs.mb.ca/recipes-collection.html for more lovely egg recipes. Stay tuned for my next recipe… Toasted Almond Soufflé.

The Egg Lady

Egg Salad Waldorf

Last night I hard-cooked half a dozen eggs and made a fresh, spring-like Egg Salad Waldorf recipe. This will definitely make an appearance at the next summer party!

For those of you who may struggle with hard-cooking eggs, here’s a method that is fool-proof:

• Take eggs directly out of the refrigerator.
• Put them in a pot of cold tap water (one inch above top of eggs); bring to a boil.
• Put a lid on pot and turn down heat to simmer; cook for 10 minutes.
• Immediately drain off hot water, place eggs in ice bath (a bowl of cold water with ice cubes).
• Crackle at the large end; return to ice bath. When all eggs are crackled, remove shells.
• Store in jar of cold water or closed container for up to a week in the refrigerator.

You will find the eggs are easier to peel and won’t have the grey-green ring around them. My eggs looked great. This is all because I stopped the cooking process quickly by putting the eggs in an ice bath. Try it out for yourself and let me know how it goes!

For the Egg Salad Waldorf, I put the pineapple, apple, celery, grapes, and roasted slivered almonds in a bowl. (I had some candied slivered almonds leftover from another recipe I did last month, so I used those and boy were they delicious!) Then I took the eggs and mayonnaise and folded them into the mixture just before serving. What a fresh and delicious salad! Easy to make too! I highly recommend this one.

Tip: Mix it up and add sunflower seeds or other nuts to this recipe. Instead of mayonnaise, try yogurt – I think it could work well.

Here’s the full recipe below. It is just as delicious as it looks!

Ingredients:
1 can (19 oz/540 mL) pineapple tidbits, well drained
2 cups (500 mL) diced, unpeeled apple, about 2 medium
1 cup (250 mL) diced celery
1 cup (250 mL) seedless grapes, halved
1/4 cup (50 mL) slivered almonds, roasted
1/2 cup (125 mL) mayonnaise or salad dressing
6 hard-cooked eggs, peeled and chopped

Instructions:
Combine pineapple and apples in a large bowl. Mix in remaining ingredients. Cover and refrigerate. Just before serving, gently fold in eggs and salad dressing or mayonnaise. If desired, mound salad in lettuce cups, and garnish with additional egg slices.

Tip: Poppy-seed dressing in place of mayonnaise works well with this recipe.

Makes 6 cups.

Visit www.eggs.mb.ca/recipes-collection.html for more spring egg recipes. Stay tuned for my next recipe in the coming weeks…

The Egg Lady