Favorite Recipe For Leftover Easter Eggs -- Eggs Jeannette

Easter was this past Sunday and, if you're anything like us, that means a fair amount of leftover hard boiled eggs.  As much as I love having hard boiled eggs on hand for a quick snack or breakfast, there are only so many plain hard boiled eggs I can eat before getting bored with them.  Most years I use them up in egg salad, deviled eggs, or chopped on a green salad (usually Caesar or Cobb), but this year I decided to do something different.  A while back I discovered a recipe for a Jacques Pepin's Eggs Jeanette.  I've only made them once before and it is the perfect way to use up those leftover eggs in a new and delicious way. 

One thing I love about this recipe is that it takes simple, inexpensive ingredients and turns them into a beautiful meal that anyone can make.  In his book, The Apprentice: My Life in the Kitchen, Jacques Pepin shares memories of growing up in wartime France.  Though meat was scarce, his mother found creative ways to use what was available.

 

 “When we were kids, eggs were a staple on our table.  Meat or poultry showed up there once a week at the most, and more often than not, our “meat” dinners consisted of a delicious ragout of potatoes or cabbage containing bits of salt pork or leftover roast.  Eggs were always a welcome main dish, especially in a gratin with bechamel sauce and cheese, and we loved them in omelettes with herbs and potatoes that Maman would serve hot or cold with a garlicky salad. 

Our favorite egg recipe, however, was my mother’s creation of stuffed eggs, which I baptized “eggs Jeanette”.  To this day, I have never seen a recipe similar to hers, and we still enjoy it often at our house.  Serve with crusty bread as a first course or as a main course for lunch.”

-Jacques Pepin, The Apprentice: My Life in the Kitchen 

Essentially, this recipe is a variation on deviled eggs.  The eggs are stuffed, browned in a little butter and oil, then served with a creamy sauce made from the filling and Dijon mustard.  We enjoyed it with some crusty bread, green salad, an a glass of dry white wine for a perfect simple supper.   I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I did!

What are some of your favorite ways to use leftover hard boiled eggs?

Eggs Jeanette 

Adapted from The Essential Pepin, by Jacques Pepin (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 2011).

3 hard-cooked eggs (see note below)

1+ tablespoons milk

1 clove garlic, chopped fine

1/2 Tablespoon dried thyme

salt and pepper

1 tablespoon oil

1 tablespoon butter

Cut the eggs in half crosswise at the widest point. Remove the yolks mash them, using a fork, with milk, garlic, thyme, salt, and pepper. The mixture should be moist and hold together. Restuff the whites with the yolk mixture, reserving approximately 1 1/2 tablespoons for the sauce.

Heat the oil and butter in a skillet.  When the oil and butter are hot and foaming, place the egg halves, stuffed side down, in the skillet.  Fry at medium heat for about 2 minutes until the stuffing is browned.   (Egg whites do not brown well and get tough if cooked in the hot fat.)  Remove the eggs from the skillet, and drizzle with sauce.  Serve with crusty French bread.

Egg Dressing

Approximately 1 1/2 tablespoons leftover egg-yolk mixture

1 Tablespoon Dijon-style mustard

1 tablespoon water

Dash of salt

Dash of white pepper

Approx. 1/4 cup olive oil

Combine reserved egg filling, mustard, water, salt, and pepper in a bowl.  Slowly stream in olive oil while whisking until desired sauce consistency.  Serve with prepared eggs.

*Note: For the perfect hard boiled eggs, click here.  Perfectly cooked and easy to peel, every time.