Jacques Pépin’s Pan-Crisped Deviled Egg Salad

Magic.  Today we’re dealing in magic… because eggs are as good as magic.

With cream, eggs are quiche.  With sugar and flour, eggs are cake.  With milk and cold, eggs are ice cream.  With butter and a whisk, eggs are scrambled.  With boiling water, eggs are hardened and maybe even deviled and pan-seared.  They’re humble in their magnificence… which totally sounds like an overly grand statement, but if you’ve ever had a really fine omelette, you know this is not an overstatement.

This recipe comes from the indomitable Jacques Pépin’s mother who, in war-torn France, knew well how to take a simple boiled egg and elevate it to high-quality lunch status.  Deviled eggs are pan crisped in ghee while leftover deviled egg filling is made into a creamy salad dressing.  It’s an exercise in making something very grand out of something rather humble.  The grace in that is beautiful and delicious.

For more deviled egg graces see: Extra Special Deviled Eggs.

We start by making deviled egg filling with egg yolks, mayonnaise, mustard, onion, garlic, parsley, and lemon juice.

Lots of salt and pepper too, and a glug of good olive oil just because it’s something Jacques Pépin would do.

The eggs are filled with the creamy deviled egg filling, flush to the egg whites so we can crisp them cut side down.

Because we’re not mounding the filling in the egg whites, we’ll have extra creamy filling that we’ll turn into salad dressing.

A little turns to much for many.

The eggs are toasted and crisped in a hot pan with melted ghee (or olive oil).  Crisped until the egg whites are slightly browned and the filling is just warmed through and toasted.

You’ll be tempted to eat these straight from the pan.  Good thing you’re the boss of the kitchen.  Sneak one, sneak two.   Just be sure to make the salad dressing to the dress the leaves.  The combination of buttermilk and deviled egg filling makes this dressing creamy, rich, and modestly indulgent.

Crisped eggs, warm, served over delicate Bibb lettuce with the creamiest deviled egg salad dressing.  It’s refined in its simplicity and sprinkled with smoky paprika is divine mealtime.

Jacques Pépin’s Pan-Crisped Deviled Egg Salad

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• Author: Joy the Baker
• Prep Time: 15
• Cook Time: 3
• Total Time: 18 minutes

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Ingredients

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For the Eggs

• 8 large eggs, hard-boiled, peeled, and sliced in half
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon buttermilk
• 1 small garlic clove, minced
• 1 tablespoon minced green onion
• 2 tablespoons fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, coarse chopped
• 1 teaspoon fresh-squeezed lemon juice
• sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper
• ghee or olive oil for pan-frying eggs

For the Salad

• the leftover egg stuffing
• 3 tablespoons good olive oil
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons buttermilk
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper
• 1 head bibb lettuce, cleaned and torn

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Instructions

1. Cut the hard-cooked eggs in half lengthwise. Use your fingers to gently remove the yolks and place them in a medium bowl. Reserve the whites on a medium plate.
2. Add the mustard, mayonnaise, olive oil, buttermilk, garlic, onion, parsley, lemon juice to the yolks. With a fork, crush everything together into a thick paste. Add salt and pepper to taste.
3. Spoon the mixture back into the hollows of the egg whites, so the filling is even with the surface of the egg, not mounded. You will have leftover stuffing which will become the salad dressing.
4. In a large nonstick skillet, heat the ghee or oil over medium heat. Gently place the eggs in the pan, stuffed side down. Cook until the eggs are beautifully browned, 3 to 5 minutes. Sprinkle them with salt and pepper as they cook.
5. To make the salad, in a large bowl combine the leftover egg stuffing with all the dressing ingredients. Whisk to combine and emulsify. Add the salad greens to the bowl, and toss. Heap them on a serving platter.
6. Gently lift the eggs from the pan, turn them filling side up, set them on the greens, and serve enjoy warm.

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Nutrition

• Serving Size: 4