Today, we bring you Sweet Auburn BBQ’s recipe for zesty deviled eggs, a recipe that gives this Southern food staple a little zing and zest from bacon, green onion stems, apple cider vinegar, and Dijon mustard.
But did you know the origins of the deviled egg trace back to ancient Rome and not the South? Before the deviled egg became synonymous with Southern church functions, backyard cookouts, and summer luncheons, a Roman variation saw fragrant pine nut sauce poured over boiled eggs on a platter served like a canapé at the start of a meal.
By the 13th century, these egg canapés had evolved into something akin to present-day deviled eggs. A recipe from the Andalusian region of modern southern Spain called for mashed egg yolks mixed with cilantro, ginger, cloves, cinnamon, salt and pepper, and fish sauce stuffed into the cavities of halved egg whites and fastened together with a small stick or sprig of fresh oregano. Known as “stuffed eggs,” recipes from the 15th century included raisins, cheese, and even more herbs in the yolk mash. Filled egg white halves were then bound together with butter or fused by frying in oil.
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The British would coin the term “deviled” in the 18th century, used to describe heavily seasoned or spicy foods. The name stuck and traveled to the U.S., with the first American recipe referencing deviled eggs published in 1877 in the “Montgomery Advertiser.” Nearly 20 years later, an 1896 recipe for deviled eggs appeared in “The Boston Cooking-School Cookbook” by Fannie Farmer, adding mayonnaise to the seasoned yolk mixture and thus creating one of the South’s most popular picnic foods.
Check out the recipe for Sweet Auburn BBQ’s deviled eggs below.
Yields 16 halves with a shelf life of two days
Ingredients
- 9 hard-boiled eggs
- 1 1⁄2 Tbsp green onion stems, diced
- 1 Tbsp celery, diced
- 1/2 Tbsp chopped parsley
- 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1/4 cup of mayo
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
Garnish
- 1/4 bacon pieces
- 1/4 cup sliced green onions
Directions
- Cut hard-boiled eggs into halves. Remove the yolks and place in a food processor.
- Put egg whites in a deviled egg tray and add the extra halves to the food processor.
- Add remaining ingredients, except bacon and sliced green onions, to the food processor and puree until the mixture is smooth.
- Place yolk mixture into a piping bag and evenly distribute into halved egg whites in the tray.
- Garnish with bacon pieces and finely sliced green onions.
- Refrigerate for no more than two days.