Perfect Egg Salad

 

 

   Such a classic, nostalgic, simple, delicious salad. Egg salad & tuna salad are probably my 2 favorite sandwiches of all time. But with simplicity can come lots of imperfections or technical errors. Too much of a specific ingredient can ruin the balance of flavors. Over or undercooked eggs, bad quality of ingredients, etc can all make or break such a simple salad. I am a bit of a snob when it comes to these two sandwiches. I ONLY use Best Foods mayo, for instance. (in both salads actually). Not too much mustard, that will take over all the other flavors. Not too much onion, and you HAVE to mince it because you want it to enhance the salad, not make it taste oniony.

 

 You can blame my dad for making me this way...he's such a sandwich master. When my sister Heather & I were kids NO ONE could make a sandwich as well as my dad. His mastery of layering every ingredient so you get everything in every bite. Not a hunk of lettuce (he ALWAYS chiffonaded the lettuce too) and his tomato slices are papery thin and perfect. His recipes for tuna salad & egg salad were not to be compared with. People make things that taste close, but never as perfect in harmony as dad's.

 

 That has turned me into a sandwich perfectionist as well and I can tell I am already passing that ridiculous quirk to my daughter. I know how to assemble any sandwich so it is perfectly layered, doesn't fall apart and you get a bite of everything in each bite. Just like dad. Which does make ordering sandwiches in places a bit of a disappointment from time to time. How can you call yourself a sandwich shop if you throw one thick chunk of tomato in the center of the sandwich and slather the center with mayo so the outside of the sandwich is dry and you have to eat your way to any flavor?? I have "reassembled" quite a few sandwiches in my day. Such a pet peeve!!

 

 But back to the egg salad. It is a great balance of simple & fresh ingredients. And I will share my no fail technique for hard-boiling the perfect egg! (something that comes in VERY handy for many other uses)

 

 

Perfect Egg Salad: Makes about 2 cups (or a tad more...)

 

6 fresh large or X-large eggs

1 stalk celery, minced (about 1/4 cup)

2-3 Tbs onion, minced (about 1/4 of a small onion)

1 Tbs plus 1 tsp Dijon mustard

1/2 cup mayo (Best Foods is best!! Their olive oil mayo is a great way to cut calories and still get excellent flavor )

Kosher salt & fresh ground pepper to taste

Sprinkle of Spike Natural Seasoning (optional)

 

 

 

To make PERFECT Hard Boiled Eggs: (this has been a tried & true method for perfectly cooked eggs EVERYTIME! So write this down!)

 

Place eggs in an appropriate sized pot (this works for any quantity of eggs. We are using 6 for this recipe). Fill pot with cold water until just covers all the eggs.

 

Turn heat on high and bring to a boil. Here is the key: Once the water comes to a boil, (not just those tiny little bubbles that start to form around the wall of the pot...a BOIL) set a timer for 8 minutes and let it boil away. After 8 minutes is up, turn off the heat, leave the eggs on the stove and set the timer for 5 minutes.

 

After the 5 minutes are up, immediately run the pot of eggs under cold water. Let run for a few minutes, you just want to stop the cooking process at this point. They don't have to be super COLD, but they should be cool or barely warm to the touch on the outside

 

I find that if you peel all the eggs at this point, the shells just slide right off. Even if I am using some eggs now, and some for later, I still peel them ALL and just store the eggs I don't need yet in a tupperware with a folded paper towel at the bottom of the container to collect moisture. If I stick my extra eggs in the fridge and peel them later, I find that some are easy to peel, and some aren't. But if you peel them right after cooking, they are a dream to peel.

 

 As you can see form the pic below, the egg yolks are PERFECT. Bright yellow, not runny centers (from under cooking), no gray around the yolk (sign of being over cooked). So that's it! Boil 8 minutes, sit for 5 minutes, cool & peel! Follow this and thank me later. ;)

 Now that we have our perfect eggs peeled, chop them up & set aside.

 

 In a med bowl, add your minced celery & onion.

 

 Then add your mayo & mustard. The ratio to me here is key. I usually know just by taste, but once again for the sake of the blog I measured to make sure you can get the same taste that I like. If you LIKE more mustardy flavor in your egg salad, by all means add more. But this is the level I like. It's all about balance and accent flavors to enhance the egg.

 

 Gently fold in your eggs in & season with salt & pepper to taste. I like to add a dash or two of Spike Seasoning. It's just a seasoning blend. Kind of like seasoned salt without the salt. My sister always put it in her deviled eggs and now she's got me hooked. But it's an optional thing. Just add a little zing. That's it!



 I like to chill my egg salad for at least 30 min-1 hr. But you can certainly enjoy it immediately if you are starving. I like it really cold but served on toasted bread and a sprinkling of organic arugula doesn't hurt either!

 

ENJOY!!

 

 

Perfect Egg Salad: Makes about 2 cups (or a tad more...)

 

6 fresh large or X-large eggs

1 stalk celery, minced (about 1/4 cup)

2-3 Tbs onion, minced (about 1/4 of a small onion)

1 Tbs plus 1 tsp Dijon mustard

1/2 cup mayo (Best Foods is best!! Their olive oil mayo is a great way to cut calories and still get excellent flavor )

Kosher salt & fresh ground pepper to taste

Sprinkle of Spike Natural Seasoning (optional)

 

 

 

To make PERFECT Hard Boiled Eggs: (this has been a tried & true method for perfectly cooked eggs EVERYTIME! So write this down!)

 

Place eggs in an appropriate sized pot (this works for any quantity of eggs. We are using 6 for this recipe). Fill pot with cold water until just covers all the eggs.

 

Turn heat on high and bring to a boil. Here is the key: Once the water comes to a boil, set a timer for 8 minutes and let it boil away. After 8 minutes is up, turn off the heat, leave the eggs on the stove and set the timer for 5 minutes.

 

After the 5 minutes are up, immediately run the pot of eggs under cold water. Let run for a few minutes, you just want to stop the cooking process at this point. They don't have to be COLD, but they should be cool or barely warm to the touch on the outside

 

I find that if you peel all the eggs at this point, the shells just slide right off. Even if I am using some eggs now, and some for later, I still peel them ALL and just store the eggs I don't need yet in a Tupperware with a folded paper towel at the bottom of the container to collect moisture. If I stick my extra eggs in the fridge and peel them later, I find that some are easy to peel, and some aren't. But if you peel them right after cooking, they are a dream to peel.

 

 The egg yolks are PERFECT. Bright yellow, not runny centers (from under cooking), no gray around the yolk (sign of being over cooked). So that's it! Boil 8 minutes, sit for 5 minutes, cool & peel! Follow this and thank me later. ;)

 Now that we have our perfect eggs peeled, chop them up & set aside. In a med bowl, add your minced celery & onion. Then add your mayo & mustard. The ratio to me here is key. I usually know just by taste, but once again for the sake of the blog I measured to make sure you can get the same taste that I like. If you LIKE more mustardy flavor in your egg salad, by all means add more. But this is the level I like. It's all about balance and accent flavors to enhance the egg. Gently fold in your eggs in & season with salt & pepper to taste. I like to add a dash or two of Spike Seasoning. It's just a seasoning blend. Kind of like seasoned salt without the salt. My sister always put it in her deviled eggs and now she's got me hooked. But it's an optional thing. Just add a little zing. That's it!



 I like to chill my egg salad for at least 30 min-1 hr. But you can certainly enjoy it immediately if you are starving. I like it really cold but served on toasted bread and a sprinkling of organic arugula doesn't hurt either!