Appetizers

Day 4: Giving the “deviled” its due

~ Bri Sperry-Renfrew ~ 13 Comments

So far my recipes for the A to Z blog challenge have included the oft-villainized cream cheese, breading, and bourbon.  If we’re going to continue down this highway to diet hell, why not throw in a good dose of deviling?

My Secrets from the Southern Living Test Kitchens book defines deviled this way: “A term that refers to highly seasoned food such as deviled eggs or deviled crab.  (Can I just insert my own salivating ‘Yum!’ here?)  The hot, spicy flavor might come from red pepper, mustard, hot sauce, chili powder, black pepper, or horseradish.”

The book goes on to provide a recipe which includes Dijon mustard and instant potato flakes.  It says the flakes make for a “full-bodied filling.”  Feel free to turn your eggs into voluptuous temptations, but for now I think I’ll stick to the boring basic-bodied variety.

In my opinion, one of the secrets to a heavenly deviled egg is starting off by mashing the yolks with a fork to a fine, crumbly consistency.  Lumpy deviled eggs are just dastardly.  Then I add a little salt, a little sweet pickle juice, Miracle Whip (NOT mayo) and plenty of mustard.  I cream this mixture with a hand mixer and then pipe it into the egg whites.  I prefer paprika for a garnish, but if you want to go Southern Living style, use fresh dill springs instead.

Isn’t deviling divine?

Blogging from A to Z Challenge April 2012

~ Bri Sperry-Renfrew ~ 10 Comments

Abyss.  Arizona.  Atheist.  Ambien.  (I could use some.)  Thanks to my friend, Laura, at Spotts in the Valley of the Sun, A-words are firing around in my head like comets.  She tipped me off about this blog challenge – perhaps just what I needed to re-activate my enthusiasm for blogging.

As the mother of an Annie who is in culinary school, I’ve settled upon the word appetizer, because regardless of what happens to be firing around upstairs, the ardors of my stomach usually win out.

Before I was married (nearly 27 years ago) I had hardly ever eaten appetizers.  Growing up as a ranch kid I was trained early to go straight for the potatoes and meat – corn-fed and fattened yards from my bedroom window.  But marrying the man who is still my husband and the gourmet of the family (at least until Annie graduates) introduced me to the art of appetizers and the friends who rocked them.  Like Susan Eden.  Here’s a recipe we begged her for after devouring them at a football bash.

Stuffed Mushrooms

12-14 large mushrooms

1 8 oz. pkg cream cheese, softened

2 Tbsp sour cream

1 Tbsp finely minced onion

4 pieces crisp-cooked bacon, crumbled

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp dill weed

grated cheddar cheese

Clean mushrooms, remove stems and hollow out cavities.  Cream together cream cheese and all remaining ingredients EXCEPT cheddar cheese.  Spoon into mushroom caps and place on a greased baking sheet.   Top with grated cheese.  Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes, until cheese is lightly browned.

Bon appetit!