Friday, February 24, 2012

Deviled Eggs by Edna Lewis

(Part of a weekly series by a group of bloggers, featuring Gourmet Live's 50 Women Game Changers in Food - see end of post for list of bloggers participating & their blogs)


We have another inspiring story this week as we look back on the life of Edna Lewis, who's at #36 of Gourmet Live's 50 Women Game Changers in Food. Edna is one of the legends of southern cooking. She grew up in Freetown, Virginia, a town founded by freed slaves, one of whom was her grandfather. All the families in Freetown lived on farms and that's where Edna's foundation was established. Every morning, all of them would help harvest crops and vegetables and raise poultry, which was their basic livelihood. At the age of 15, when the great depression struck, Edna left Freetown in search of a better life. She landed in New York and sustained herself through odd jobs. She worked as a seamstress, window dresser and also in the office of the Daily Worker, a communist newspaper. 

Edna loved cooking for her friends and slowly, her cooking started gaining popularity and praise among friends and acquaintances. In 1948, her friend, John Nicholson, an antique dealer, asked her to take on the role of head chef at the restaurant he was opening. The restaurant was a huge success and attracted famous guests like Tennessee Williams, William Faulkner and Truman Capote, who were regulars. She worked at the restaurant, serving up delicious southern food, until 1954.


She went on to travel, teach and write her own cookbooks. Her landmark book, The Taste of Country Cooking, was one of the first cookbooks by an African-American woman to reach a nationwide audience and is credited for starting the interest in genuine Southern cooking. While cooking for one of the festivals in Atlanta, she met Scott Peacock, who was in awe of her and wanted to follow her to learn everything she had to impart. Over the years, they both developed a deep friendship, working on recipes together, and even co-authored the popular cookbook, The Gift of Southern Cooking. Edna passed away in 2006, at the age of 89.

So, to honor her, I picked the recipe of Deviled Eggs, that was a dish Edna and Scott developed. This is a lovely, light appetizer that's both simple and tasty. It's extremely easy to whip up and highly customizable. Once you have the base, you can throw in either cayenne pepper to add a little bit of spice or add a herb to infuse some flavor. This is something ANYONE can make since all it involves is boiling an egg and mixing stuff with it. Unless, of course, the eggs you're working with don't co-operate with you. Like mine did. I use brown eggs that take much longer to cook and I can never figure out the right time to pull them out. So, I may have had to fight with the shell to get it off and it made my job a little harder to hide all the flaws on the outside of the egg white. But, otherwise, it's a fool-proof recipe!


While preparing the eggs, I suddenly thought of mixing things up a bit and utilizing the egg mixture in a couple of different ways. It works beautifully as a cracker topping and I'd nibbled on all of them by the time I cleaned everything up! All you have to do is chop the egg whites into tiny pieces and mix it up along with the yolk mixture (this is perfect especially if you have un-cooperative eggs like mine that come out damaged when you try to take their shells off). Then, spread away on your favorite cracker.


That same egg mixture can be used as a sandwich filling too. This is something familiar to me since my mom makes similar egg sandwiches. So, experiment and have fun with it! The possibilities are endless and limited only by your imagination! 


Deviled Eggs by Edna Lewis and Scott Peacock

Ingredients and instructions:
  • 1 dozen large eggs
  • Fine sea salt
  • 1/2 cup mayonnaise
  • 2 tablespoons heavy cream
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
  • 2 teaspoons snipped chives and chervil (I couldn't find either so I used scallions and they tasted delicious too)
Put the eggs in a large saucepan with water to cover by 2 inches. Add 1 tablespoon of salt and bring to a rolling boil over high heat. Immediately remove the pan from the heat, cover and let stand for 10 minutes. Pour off the hot water and fill the saucepan with cold water. Gently crack the eggs in the water to loosen the shells.

Shell the eggs. Cut a very thin slice from the bottom of each egg so the eggs will stand up. Slice off the top third of each egg and scoop the yolks into a coarse strainer; reserve the whites. Press the egg yolks through the strainer into a bowl. If you're too lazy like me to use a strainer, just mash them with a fork.

Blend in the mayonnaise, cream, sugar and vinegar. Season with salt. Using a teaspoon or a pastry bag fitted with a star tip, generously fill the egg whites. Arrange the eggs on a plate, sprinkle with the chives and chervil and serve.



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Here's a list of the other bloggers participating in this series. Do go over to their blogs to see what yummy dishes they've whipped up. If you'd like to join the group, please get in touch with Mary of One Perfect Bite.

Val - More Than Burnt Toast [] Taryn - Have Kitchen Will Feed [] Susan - The Spice Garden [] Heather - girlichef [] Miranda - Mangoes and Chutney [] Jeanette - Healthy Living [] Mary - One Perfect Bite [] Kathleen - Bake Away with Me [] Sue - The View from Great Island [] Barbara - Movable Feasts [] Linda A - There and Back Again [] Nancy - Picadillo [] Mireya - My Healthy Eating Habits [] Veronica - My Catholic Kitchen [] Annie - Most Lovely Things [] Claudia - Journey of an Italian Cook [] Alyce - More Time at the Table [] Amrita -Beetles Kitchen Escapades

29 comments:

  1. These look really really delicious. This is the kind of dish she excelled at. I love your photos of the eggs. You picked a great recipe to represent her cooking and I loved the backstory you included in your post. I hope you have a great day. Blessings...Mary

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    1. Thank you, Mary! Hope you have a lovely weekend!

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  2. Such a beautiful story. Your photos are amazing and I like how you displayed the recipe in different serving forms.

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    1. Thank you, Dawnye! It just struck me while I was mixing the egg yolks so I went with it :D

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  3. Gorgeous!!!!

    I am in LOVE with deviled eggs. And egg salad. I'm adding it to our weekend menu!

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    1. LOL I hope your whole family enjoys it this weekend!

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  4. Those are some pretty little devils! Perfect picnic fare! Great post!

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  5. Beautiful! Mine always taste great, but look awful. I think I will do the pastry bag idea next time. Thanks for the great tip!

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    1. Hahaha Tiffany, till now I'd never thought of taking the time to pipe them as well but when I saw the effect piping had on them, I'm now a believer in piping the filling :D

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  7. When you bring your eggs home from the store/farm, it helps to store them w/ the pointy side down. That centers the yolks within the white, making for a more presentable and easier filled deviled egg. I've always liked my deviled eggs w/ dill relish and a dusting of paprika on top. I've also done some with minced pickled jalapeno peppers.

    Found your site via my Foodgawker feed in my reader

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    1. Mike, our eggs stay pointy side down but I still get my yolks all over the place :( I like the idea of the minced jalapeno peppers! Will give that a try some time. Thanks for stopping by and giving me those tips....hope you come by more often now :D

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  8. I adore devilled eggs! Edna Lewis is one of the most fascinating women so far on "the list".

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    1. I agree, Bellini! She's such a charming woman and the Youtube documentary on her titled "Fried chicken and sweet potato pie" was such a heart-warming story of her life, I truly enjoyed her this week!

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  9. Those cute little egg salad sandwiches are to die for! Great post.

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  10. Yet another Edna Lewis recipe I must try. She is simplicity itself - with a little twist. I have loved everything that everyone has made and want to make them all (and will). You just re-ignited my love of deviled eggs.

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    1. LOL Claudia, I feel the same way when I visit all the other lovely ladies' blogs. I hope I can do justice to all these lovely recipes one day!

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  11. That's a new twist to add vinegar and suger. Those eggs are so cute the way you stuck the green onions on like rabbit ears.

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    1. I agree, Mireya! Her recipe for Deviled Eggs is not like the others I see but, absolutely delicious! And now that you mention it, the scallions do look like bunny ears! LOL

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  12. Was that Scott Peacock in the photo? Fun to see a photo of him with Edna.
    Great recipe...love the idea of vinegar. Definitely will add that the next time I make them.

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    1. That is Scott Peacock with her, Barbara :) Vinegar sure is an interesting ingredient in this recipe and it adds that little tangy touch to it!

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  13. These pictures are fabulous. You did a great job representing this wonderful cook. Bravo! Blessings my dear, Catherine xo

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    1. Thank you so much for your lovely words, Catherine, you're always so encouraging! :D

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  14. I love deviled eggs, I used to have them very often :) Yous look really lovely :)

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  15. What a lovely post. I really can't wait to try deviled eggs this way.

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  16. I am really liking Edna's recipes! This looks to be a wonderful variation on the standard deviled eggs and I am saving this recipe. Your pictures here are stunning, thanks so much for sharing this!

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  17. Your deviled eggs look delicious and beautiful! And who wouldn't want to pop one of those little egg sandwiches into their mouth...YUM!!!

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