Hard Boiled Eggs--HELP!!!!

Can we just have an honest conversation about hard boiled eggs? I feel like I am a pretty good cook, but hard boiled eggs give me problems-lots and lots of problems. In my opinion, there is nothing more frustrating than peeling the shell off of an egg when it sticks to the egg white. Just ask my husband. He has witnessed more than one of my rage black outs because of this. If you have never had this problem, lady luck must hang around your kitchen.

I bring this up because on Saturday we had a dinner party-an "Anna Pump" dinner party to be exact. Ok, I need to explain who she is and that means...MAJOR TANGENT ALERT! Ina Garten is probably my favorite celebrity chef on the food network. I love her. I adore her. I tivo the Barefoot Contessa everyday. Her food in amazing. Everytime I make one of her recipes, I am blown away. So, my friend Jason (also major Ina fan) and I decided that we should have Barefoot Contessa potluck dinner parties. The main crew includes Greg and me, and our friends Ben, Sylvia, and Jason. As there are five of us and six seats at our dinner table, the sixth spot is a wild card of sorts that typically rotates between our friends (whom we met through the dinners) Judy and Stacey. Everyone makes a dish from one of Ina's cookbooks and brings it to the dinner. Sometimes we divide the courses and sometimes it is a free-for-all (Be thankful you don't get to see the email chains leading up to the event!). The parties have been so much fun and Ina's recipes are consistently delicious. My favorite Ina recipes are her springtime risotto, roasted chicken with lemon and garlic, brownies, pesto and pea pasta, gravlax, filet of beef with gorgonzola cream sauce, and chicken chili. I know that hardly seems to narrow it down, but given the myriad of choices from her several books, one could literally go on and on. Anyhoo, if you watch Barefoot Contessa you know that Ina has her friends drop by and participate in the show. Miguel, often handles table settings and floral arrangements, Barbara stops by to mix things up, and Ina often talks about her friend Anna Pump, who owns a specialty food store called "Loaves and Fishes," which Ina often visits. Sorry, this is a LONG tangent. For the Christmas party I gifted the regular crew with copies of Anna's cookbook, Summer on a Plate. How great is that??--(Ina reference) I believe it was Ben who suggested an Anna Pump party to change things up while still honoring our love of Ina. So we did it on Saturday. I prepared the panko parmesan encrusted chicken with avocado mango salsa and the stuffed eggs--hence, the problem with hard boiled eggs.

Interestingly enough, last week Ina had an episode devoted to eggs and she showed her "tricks" for hardboiled eggs, which I tried...with the same disastrous outcome!!!!!!

This time I followed Anna's directions to a "T" and I still had the sticky shell problem. However, the show must go on and I salvaged the eggs and just dealt with the problems. Regardless of the minor aesthetic issues, they were the most delicious deviled eggs I have ever had in my life--and I have had many in my day. Everyone at the party went nuts over them and I believe the consenus was that they indeed are, the best deviled eggs in the history of deviled eggs. It is still summer and lots more pool days and picnics to be had so I definitely recommend making these for whatever event you'd like. They really are unbelievable, truly addicting. Make them!!! You won't be sorry.




Stuffed Eggs
from Summer on a Plate by Anna Pump

12 eggs
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1/4 cup minced shallots
2 tablespoons minced curly parsley, plus extra for garnish
1/8 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (I used tabasco)

Place the eggs in a saucepan, cover with cold water, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain and cool the eggs under cold running water. Peel the eggs and cut each in half horizontally* through its equator (*not lengthwise as is typically the case with deviled eggs). Place the yolks in a food processor. Cut a thin slice off the bottom of each egg white so it is able to stand upright and place the whites on a platter.

Add the mayonnaise, mustard, salt, and pepper to the yolks and puree until just smooth.

Combine the garlic, shallots, parsley, and hot pepper sauce in a small bowl. Divide the garlic-shallot mixture equally among the wells of each egg white.

Pipe or spoon the pureed yolk on top of the mixture, mounding a little on top of each. Garnish with a sprinkling of minced parsely.

Anna also suggests folding minced cornichons into the egg mixture.

FYI...If you pipe on the yolk mixture, not only are the eggs delicious, they are GORGEOUS!!!!!

P.S. I emailed Anna on her website to figure out what could be causing the sticky egg problem and she promptly responded saying that the fresher the egg, the more likely shell problems become. Who knew? (that would have been a helpful tip in the recipe, Anna my dear!)

I guess I needed the DeLorean and Doc Brown to come and take me back in time a few weeks to get eggs and put them in my fridge for this very occassion. Sheez!