Tuesday, April 6, 2010

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.

29 comments:

  1. Good news for Bittman is that he wins no matter what with this throwdown! And I'm guessing you guys did too since they both look delicious. What a way to start off the new IHCC segment.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow they both sound good! I am going to have to remember to cook some Bittman!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Nine minutes is perfect in my opinion. Great throw-down and great photos.
    Sam

    ReplyDelete
  4. Both eggs sound excellent! I've never had any version of deviled egg but the classic. These are so creative.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love that you turned this into your own Throwdown. I wonder which version would have won in my house? I'm crazy for curry!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I don't think I'd ever heard of Mark Bittman until today, and you are the second person to mention him in one day! I love deviled eggs, but I can't do jalapenos. I do love the idea of curried deviled eggs, though. :D

    ReplyDelete
  7. I sometimes dont know how I functioned before my copy of Bittman's How To Cook Everything! :) Love this throwdown!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Jalapeno deviled eggs sounds delish as does curried eggs. Yummy!

    ReplyDelete
  9. You make both of these sound incredibly delicious.
    Mimi

    ReplyDelete
  10. I knew it! I knew that the jalapeno would win before I even read the rest of your post. YUM! I have got to branch out from my deviled egg recipe. These sound wonderful.

    ReplyDelete
  11. My hubby loves deviled eggs, I'll bet he's really like the jalapeno one!

    ReplyDelete
  12. I just got two books from the library yesterday, and I can't wait to start cooking with Mark!
    Your eggs were a great first choice!

    p.s. Have you seen this guy? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PN2gYHJNT3Y
    You'll never have trouble peeling eggs again :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. You know - the curried eggs are what appeals to me. Go figure. They both look scrumptious. Sometimes you just cannot choose.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I've been seeing a lot of these lately and now I am so tempted to make them.
    Hope you had a great easter.
    *kisses* HH

    ReplyDelete
  15. I've never thought to add jalapeno either. Isn't it funny how simple things like that get overlooked? Good call on garnishing with more jalapeno!

    Sounds like you had fun with this throwdown! Are there any other variations you plan to try? I can't imagine 15 ways to flavor deviled eggs!

    ReplyDelete
  16. That is a great way to hard boil eggs and I must say I've never met a deviled egg I didn't like. Both featured here are terrific. This sounds like a challenge that was a lot of fun. I hope you are having a wonderful day. Blessings...Mary

    ReplyDelete
  17. Deviled eggs with jalapeno sounds like it's right up our alley. We like it spicy too!

    ReplyDelete
  18. I knew all along the Jalapeno recipe would win, how could it not!

    ReplyDelete
  19. What a fantastic idea! I love Jalapeno. Next time I make deviled eggs, I am going to try this. Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Oh! I love deviled eggs...and with jalapeno really sound tasty. Nice pictures :-)

    ReplyDelete
  21. I can almost taste the jalapeno ones from here, how yummy! I would love to give the curry ones a try though as well.

    ReplyDelete
  22. I love your composition of these photos and I also side with your favorite ones. I used to think jalapenos were "hot" until I learned how to handle them (seed, thin slice).

    Great job, Kim.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Both look delicious--I SO love deviled eggs. Now you have me craving them right now and I just ate dinner. ;-) Great pick for our first Bittman week!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Love your throwdowns and beautiful pictures. Gonna have to try these! :)

    ReplyDelete
  25. Both of these look wonderful. I am sure I will have to try the jalapeno one. Michael is a big fan of them. Great job on this throwdown!

    ReplyDelete
  26. Both recipes look delicious. I don't think I've ever had a deviled egg I didn't like. But recently I tried out a spicy version of the deviled egg, and boy was I in heaven! I'd probably pick the jalapeno version too; it sounds yummy :D

    ReplyDelete
  27. Kim, these look great. I love devilled eggs, and haven't had them for ages - I'm keen to try the jalapeno version.
    Sue

    ReplyDelete
  28. This may have been a hard one for me to choose between--I love both jalepenos and curry!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment! At the moment I am having a huge problem with spam so I've had to add comment moderation and close off comments to anonymous users. I apologize for the trouble and hope to return my comments to normal shortly.