A Mark Bittman Throwdown: Deviled Eggs

In celebration of our new chef at I Heart Cooking Clubs, I decided a Throwdown was in order. After all, Mark Bittman is well-known for all of his recipe variations and this lends itself wonderfully to a Throwdown. For our first week with Mark Bittman, we are celebrating bites, appetizers or small plates of his delicious food to pass around and share. Is there a better way to celebrate the season than with deviled eggs?

In Bittman's How To Cook Everything Vegetarian, there are six variations for deviled eggs and then another additional 15 ways to flavor them. I knew instantly that I would be preparing at least two of his variations for Easter Sunday and a Throwdown was born. The first choice was easy. My eyes nearly popped out of my head when I saw Bittman's variation for Jalapeno Deviled Eggs. Why hadn't I ever thought of that? It's just pure genius. My husband and I both love deviled eggs and we adore jalapeno. I knew this one was going to be a serious contender.


The recipe for the Deviled Jalapeno Eggs is super easy. For every 4 hard-cooked eggs you will need 2 tablespoons of sour cream (or mayo), 2 teaspoons minced jalapeno and 1/8 teaspoon cumin and desired amount of salt. Bittman says to garnish with cilantro, but I opted to garnish with more minced jalapeno. We really like it hot!

My second choice was Bittman's Curried Deviled Eggs. I finally broke down and bought some curry powder and was excited to try out this new spice (new to me anyway). Bittman's Curried Deviled Eggs are actually a much healthier option. For every 4 hard-boiled eggs you will need 2 tablespoons of yogurt (I used Greek yogurt), 1 teaspoon of curry powder, salt to taste. The curried eggs are garnished with a cilantro leaf.




AND THE WINNER IS.......................................................



The Jalapeno Deviled Egg! We are crazy about deviled eggs and jalapeno, so we knew that this variation would probably win!

Notes/Results: I used Bittman's recipe for hard-cooked eggs. It is a simple method of covering the eggs with water, bringing to a boil, turning the heat off, covering with a lid and letting sit for 9 minutes. The eggs turned out perfectly and were very easy to peel. For each deviled egg recipe I had to add either a little more mayo (in the case of the jalapeno version) or a little more yogurt (in the case of the curry version). We like our deviled eggs to have lots of filling. The Curried Deviled Eggs were delicious as well and I was anxious to see what the yogurt would contribute to the filling. The end result was a creamy subtly spiced deviled egg with a little bit of tang from the yogurt. A great deviled egg, no doubt, but definitely a healthier version that would probably be best served on it's own and not compared to a full-fat amped up Jalapeno Deviled Egg. The Jalapeno Deviled Egg is genius! Spicy, creamy and delicious it was our personal preference and the winner of the Throwdown.

NOTE: As the Jalapeno Deviled Eggs sit, the heat intensifies.

Head on over to I Heart Cooking Clubs this week to check out our new chef, Mark Bittman. Better yet, join us by cooking up a Mark Bittman recipe.