I never used to be into eggs. I also never ate a hard boiled egg on purpose (to my recollection) until about a year ago. The chalky cooked yolks never spoke to me as appetizing. Matthew is pretty much obsessed with them (so much so that I've coined the hashtag #putaneggonit in his honor because he puts an egg on... everything). I slowly worked my way from scrambled eggs to fried eggs and now I'm obsessed with poached eggs. I figured it's now a good time to try making deviled eggs for the first time ever. I come from a Southern family, but somehow I made it 30 years without having made, and having eaten very few, deviled eggs.

I'm not a big fan of plain 'ol mustard and mayo versions, so when I came across a recipe for bacon deviled eggs by The Green Table in the Chelsea Market Cookbook my sister and her husband gifted to us for Christmas, I was ready to dive into my first deviled egg venture.

The hardest part about this was that we had never hard boiled eggs... ever. Again, I don't know how we made it this far in life and cooking without hard boiling an egg. It's actually kind of tough, but the instructions from The Green Table were super helpful, so I will share them!

Use eggs that are at least 1 week old (opposite of poaching eggs, which work best when super fresh). It's hard to know how old your eggs are when you don't buy them directly from a farm, but the older the eggs, the more liquid that has evaporated and the easier they will peel.
Put eggs in a single layer in a large saucepan, cover with cold water by 1/4" and bring to a boil over medium heat.
Reduce the heat and simmer briskly for 2 minutes.
Here's the trick I wouldn't have thought: Remove from heat and cover for 12 minutes.
Drain eggs and rinse with cold water. Submerge in an ice bath for 10 minutes to cool completely.
Rap the egg all over and peel from large end first.

Ours peeled fairly well, but maybe our eggs weren't old enough. A few didn't turn out as pretty as others, but overall, they were perfectly cooked! No weird green yolk spots.

I quickly learned that removing the yolk was a tool best left for my tiny espresso spoons.

Chelsea Market Cookbook Bacon Deviled Eggs | metalandhoney.com

This is where the old me would've balked at the thought of eating these chalky things.

Another process I wouldn't have thought of is pressing the yolks through a wire mesh sieve to grate the delicate yolks perfectly. Maybe everyone does this! But again, first timer here.

The mixins' is what excited me about this recipe. No plain 'ol mayo and mustard. When your flavor in a recipe is coming heavily from spices, I like to be very particular about the quality that goes in because it can really make or break the flavor.

The recipe called for sweet relish, but I really don't like sweet pickles, so I went with a dill relish. I also used old-style whole grain dijon mustard instead of the super smooth stuff you find more regularly. My favorite is the reliable French brand, Maille, and I think it really added something extra to this recipe. I also used a high quality paprika. I find that most general brand paprika you buy from the supermarket is flavorless and used mostly for color. I used Mas Portell Smoked Sweet Paprika and the flavor is outstanding. Dollop of mayo, some cayenne, salt, and black pepper, and time to mix!

I'm the worst about misplacing tiny things, so I'm pretty much always losing and repurchasing new metal tips. The only one I could find was a large plain, so I didn't get very fancy with my filling styling.

Bacon and eggs 'til the end of time. They go together like... bacon and eggs. Matthew cooked up some super thick, high quality bacon which I think was a really important texture choice. Creating these thick bacon chunks made for a chewiness that I enjoyed and maybe wouldn't have gotten with thin-sliced bacon.

We were blown away. These were freaking DELICIOUS and a huge hit with the crowd I made them for. I can't wait to experiment with my own recipes now that I have the hang of what makes a great deviled egg. Stay tuned! I might be obsessed.

Recipe from The Chelsea Market Cookbook by The Green Table

Serves 6 (we made a double recipe)

2 slices bacon
6 large eggs
2 tbsp. mayonnaise
1 tbsp. + 1 1/2 tsp. pickle relish
1 1/2 tsp. dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon sweet paprika
1/4 tsp. cayenne (or to taste)
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
paprika or Aleppo pepper for sprinkling

We recently had a dinner party with a few friends who also share a love of fantastic food. It's not very often that Matt and I make a full menu including all beverages and courses being on theme. We were making two thai dishes, one curry and one peanut pork belly, so we wanted to finish off the meal with a unique ice cream that tied into these flavors.

It's no secret that we are obsessed with Jeni's Ice Cream. Her flavors are inventive, robust, and exciting -- not your average cream! I highly recommend buying her books ASAP.

I was in charge of dessert, so when I saw the title "Toasted Rice Ice Cream with a whiff of coconut and black tea" while perusing the book, I knew it was the flavor for the evening.

I wouldn't say making ice cream is difficult, but you do have to pay attention to details. This wasn't one of the simpler ice creams I've churned, but only because there are many layers of flavors. My biggest advice in making ice cream is focusing on ingredients. High quality, high flavor, organic where possible -- it truly makes a difference.

Jeni's Toasted Rice Ice Cream | metalandhoney.com #jenisathome

The recipe starts off with toasting jasmine rice. It wasn't easy to get even toasting, but I think it made for a prettier mix of colors anyways.

You essentially make a rice pudding with the toasted rice by cooking the rice in sugar and coconut milk (full fat!)

I then brought the ingredients together, after infusing with black tea, to complete the base which includes the ingredient that I have decided is Jeni's magical secret -- cream cheese!

Never rush your chilling process. It's important to allow your base to get completely chilled before putting it into your churn. If you put warm base into a frozen churn, the temperature won't stay cold enough long enough to freeze and your texture will be off.

This ice cream turned out a beautiful toasted color. I garnished with mango, mint, and a sprinkle of black sesame seeds for vibrancy and contrast. Next time, I will toast the sesame seeds to bring their flavor out more. This was a really interesting ice cream with subtle flavors and dense chewiness. One scoop was just enough to finish off our meal. Can't wait for my next Jeni's recipe! I plan to churn my way through the entire book.