A few years ago, I started an annual tradition of inviting people over for a raucou-lots of beer, lots of families, limited child-supervision—St. Patrick’s Day shindig. Although I could probably just put out chips and booze and call it a day, I can’t help but take the opportunity to serve people an assortment of butter-saturated, Irish peasant food (just like my forefathers).
At one point, a friend from the neighborhood (who had the unfortunate timing of just having begun a cleanse…clearly she isn’t Irish) scanned the spread and said, “does any of this have butter in it?”, to which I replied, “ALL of it has butter in it.” With the two exceptions. A shredded raw beet, carrot, and apple salad, which I tossed with a jar-dressing of the following: 1 part white wine vinegar, 1 part grapeseed oil, 1 part hazelnut oil, a spoonful of dijon mustard, 1 chopped shallot, a drizzle of maple syrup, and lots of salt and pepper.
And herb filled green deviled eggs.
Here’s how I made them:
I started with a flat of eggs (all from new hen-layers at our CSA’s farm so they were almost dainty in size) and gently boiled them in a big pot for about 7 minutes (long enough to be cooked through but not too long so that the yolk remains little opaque and creamy in the middle, not chalky!). After draining the eggs I ran them under cold water and once they were cooled, peeled them (this step took the longest because shells tend to be stubborn on eggs that are very fresh), cut them in half, popped the yolks out and into a bowl, and then added the “green”…
In this case, GREEN GODDESS DRESSING! It made the deviled egg filling so gorgeous and springlike, one of my friends asked if I used green food coloring (!) but I said no, it was all-natural. So here is what I did:
In a blender I added:Â Â 1/3 cup mayonnaise, 1/4 Greek yogurt (full fat or 2%), a handful of chopped watercress, a handful of chopped flat leaf parsley leaves, 1/4 cup white wine vinegar, 1/4 tsp of anchovy paste, 1 tablespoon of olive oil, a good squeeze of lemon juice, and lots of salt and pepper. Blended until smooth and combined, tasted for more seasonings, then added to the yolks and combined with a fork. Fill the cooked whites with the now-green yolk filling (I use a small spoon but if you want to be fancy you can also scoop the filling into a small Ziploc bag, snip one of the tips, and pipe the filling into the egg center just like you would from a pastry bag). Sprinkle the filled eggs with more chopped parsley, a drizzle of olive oil and fleur de sel. Enjoy! And Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!
