Deviled Eggs

I know that deviled eggs are as old school as them come.  The next thing you know I might be posting about jello molds and Waldorf salad.  Only my mom used to make deviled eggs for my family around the holidays.  So they are totally nostalgic for me.  She never made a jello mold.  So no worries there - we won't be whipping up any in our kitchen anytime soon.  As for Waldorf salad, she did make that for me occasionally, but as much as I enjoyed it at the time, I can't see myself making Waldorf salad for Alex and I at any point.  Any salad involving mini-marshmallows just seems wrong, no matter how delicious I remember it being.

While I thought about mixing it up and making an exotic twist on deviled eggs, but that just seemed to miss the point.  If you're making something due to nostalgia, why not make it the way you remember it, rather than going crazy with it and trying to make the dish fun and new?  So I made these deviled eggs just the way I remembered them.  I thought about putting in a call to my mom to find out exactly what she puts into her deviled eggs, but I decided that I could wing it pretty well based on memory.  I know that Mom puts mayonnaise, very finely minced onions, dijon mustard, and very finely minced ham in her eggs.  She also sprinkles a tiny bit of paprika on top.  I didn't have any onions or shallots, so I used chives instead.  And I decided that paprika was unnecessary because I preferred the fresh green of the chives to the red of the paprika (which adds almost no flavor anyway).  I also thought that a little more fresh onion flavor is never a bad thing to serve as a counterpoint to rich egg yolks and mayo.  Yum.  These aren't my mom's deviled eggs, but they sure are close.

Recipe after the jump!

Deviled Eggs

INGREDIENTS:

1 dozen eggs

2 tsp dijon mustard

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1 tbsp chives, finely minced, plus additional for garnish

1 tbsp ham, finely minced

s&p

Hard boil the eggs.  Add eggs to a large saucepan and cover with at least 1-2 inches of cold water.  Add a pinch of salt to the water.  Bring the water to a boil.  Lower the heat and simmer for 1 minute.  Cover, and remove from heat.  Let sit covered for 12 minutes.  Drain hot water from pan and place the eggs in an ice bath to cool.

Carefully peel the eggs under running water.  Slice each egg in half lengthwise using a sharp knife.  Gently remove yolks and place in a small mixing bowl.  Add remaining ingredients.  Mix, using a fork.  Season to taste.  Carefully spoon egg yolk mixture back into the waiting egg whites.  Garnish with finely minced chives.

Serve.