Stuffed Eggs, Deviled Eggs & Dressed Eggs

Eggs are so plentiful and inexpensive now making it the perfect time for deviled and stuffed egg recipes.  Before industrialized production, half of all eggs were produced from March through June.  As an inexpensive and complete protein source, eggs were prized and often a low cost main dish for farm families during the Depression and war times.  Several wonderful recipes herald from that era when homemakers rushed to take advantage of the bonanza available to them either from their own flocks or from the market. 

One especially wonderful recipe is from Jacques Pepin and named for his mother, Oeufs Jannette.  My family adores this recipe which is fabulous for brunch or luncheon.  This is one of the few current day stuffed egg recipes where a second cooking occurs, but in medieval and renaissance recipes, frying after stuffing was the norm. 

Incidentally, the most important aspect of any stuffed egg is the hard cooked egg you begin with.  Use the tips on the Eggs & Chickens page for the perfect hard cooked egg and also see the Deviled Egg recipe there.  It is my family’s recipe from rural Alabama as much as a recipe has been developed.  It is the traditional cold preparation, perfect for picnics and buffets.  Add to it as you wish;  many of us feel that relish is horrific but there are fans!

Finally, deviled is a term which indicates the presence of pepper, mustard or vinegar from days of yore.  It first was applied to deviled eggs around 1891 while deviled bones, an earlier dish, is referenced far earlier in literature by Washington Irving and Boswell.  Dressed or stuffed eggs are terms used regionally in the US and in the UK.