Like my mother, I’ve always believed that beautiful looking food ends up tasting even better. Growing up, even though we never had fancy American dinner staples such as rack of lamb and Christmas ham, we always used the good china. A beautifully plated meal on a perfectly set table adds just the right touch of glamour to any dinner. It certainly isn’t easy making dinner glamorous, especially when it’s too convenient to pick up some Chipotle immediately after hitting up the gym. (I know I shouldn’t but yoga pants give me such an inflated sense of how fit I am right after I finish working out.) Because making meals an occasion is an occasion itself, I rejoice at any excuse for preparing lavish spreads and what could be more glamorous than the Academy Awards this weekend?!
I never had deviled eggs until I was a working adult but as a kid, upon hearing the name I assumed they were pretty gross. Now that I think about it, a lot of tasty, fancy food is mildly offensive at some level; think caviar, pickled vegetables, cold shrimp cocktail. Deviled eggs fit right in there with the strange yet sophisticated. Anyway, while the recipe for deviled eggs is quite basic, I’m not going to lie, if you want them to come out Oscars pretty, you have to be mentally prepared for a laborious effort. Don’t worry, just follow these steps with extra care and anyone who eats these will feel like a movie star (and even better because they’ll actually get to eat)!
1. Once you’ve hardboiled all your eggs (about 10 minutes in boiling water), spoon them into an ice bowl before attempting to peel off the shells. Take your time with this step! Unless you’re making these for yourself, I doubt you’d want to serve your guests anything looking like this:
2. After you’ve peeled all your eggs, carefully slice them in half lengthwise and scoop out the yolks into a separate bowl. You’ll want to use a damp paper towel to wipe any excess yolk off the whites.
3. Mix your yolks with mayonnaise, wasabi and ginger until a smooth paste forms. At this point, you can choose to either spoon your yolks directly onto your egg whites or go the extra mile and use a piping kit. I went with a 1M tip for the classic ridged swirls.
4. Once your yolks are spooned or piped onto your egg whites, add your toppings! With the tangy wasabi yolks, I figured some smoked salmon, cucumber, sesame seeds, shredded seaweed and green onions would make delicious sushi style deviled eggs. Plus the colorful array will light up any party!
There you have it folks, some fancy finger food for your famished film fanatics! And the Oscar for Best Appetizer goes to…:)
