Bacon and Cheddar Deviled Eggs

I was browsing allfood.recipes and somebody wrote something about how he subs half his mayo for cream cheese and the eggs are creamier and taste more refined. Then there was this other recipe that mixed bacon inside the yolks. We all know that bacon and eggs go together like New York and counterfeit purses, like Utah and knee-length shorts, like Wisconsin and spring snow that won’t. ever. melt!!!

So, my rendition of the deviled egg combines the chef’s use of cream cheese, and the wonderful concept of crumbled bacon…but don’t mix your bacon into the yolks! It gets chewy and soft, and then you taste the texture of the fat, and we want our fat crunchy; therefore, our brains don’t recognize it as fat, and that’s how we enjoy food best, isn’t it? In ignorance? Like how I used to adore sweet and sour sauce much better before I realized that the sauce was 50%..69%…no, 80%…okay so it’s like 90% sugar. Somehow, I’m still able to enjoy that one though.

These deviled eggs are the best. Ty, the master taste tester, has never like deviled eggs, BUT he LOVED these

When cooking hard boiled eggs, cover with cold water 1 inch above eggs. Pour in 2 tsp. salt, and bring to a boil over med-high heat and uncovered. AS SOON AS the water boils, remove from heat for 15 to 17 minutes (depending on size of eggs—large is about 16 minutes exactly). HINT **Set a timer so they don’t turn gray!

As soon as the 15 to 17 minutes is up, dump out hot water and immediately place eggs in a cold ice water bath. This will pull the shell membrane away from the egg white.

When peeling, try to get a fingernail under the ultra thin membrane that is connected to the shell…If you try to pull the shell off the membrane, it will take FOREVER, and will result in a pocked egg. Getting under the membrane will help the peel pull right off, like this picture.

Ingredients

• 12 eggs, hard boiled and peeled
• 1/2 cup (4 oz) cream cheese, softened or room temperature
• 1/4 cup mayo
• 1 Tbsp milk
• 4 tsp (1 Tbsp plus 1 teaspoon) yellow mustard
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp pepper, preferably white pepper
• 4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled (you can use store-bought, real bacon bits if time is short)
  paprika (traditionally added for garnish, but the bacon adds nice color, so you don’t really need it)

• 2 tablespoons finely shredded Cheddar cheese

Steps

1. Slice eggs lengthwise with a knife wiped clean, and dipped in hot water between slices (to keep the egg whites from getting smeared with yolk)
2. Gently remove yolks and place in a small mixing bowl
3. Add cream cheese, mayo, milk, mustard, vinegar, salt,Cheddar cheese and pepper to the yolks . Mix well with a fork or put in food processor and mix until smooth.
4. Scoop mixture into a decorative pastry bag, or resealable gallon bag and fit a decorative tip on if desired. I used a Wilton 1M tip. No tip is necessary–you can simply cut a small corner of the bag off.
5. Pipe mixture into the empty egg whites.
6. Top with crushed bacon bits.
7. Serve with love and good thoughts toward pigs and chickens (bacon and eggs)