No Man Can Eat 50 eggs...

Ah, remember the classic scene from Cool Hand Luke? What a classic movie! I thought it was a good title to this post because in the Lil Daisies home:

Easter fun = 48 hard boiled eggs!

What to do with all the eggs? Usually, it boils (pun intended) down to these choices:

• Deviled (Angeled) Eggs
• Egg Salad Sandwiches (assorted versions)
• Potato Salad
• Eat Plain

Now, I do like to have boiled eggs this way, but there is only so much I can handle-- before I want to try something different, something new.

The day after Easter, I posted on Facebook asking the question --what can you do with hard boiled eggs besides the above? And...well, I didn't get many new ideas from what is the normal: Egg Salad, Potato Salad, Deviled Eggs....

I did get a few good answers though. One of my friends mentioned this recipe (of which she said was suprisingly REALLY good): Asparagus with Ham and Eggs. So, I thought about giving this recipe a try as well as some others I found searching the web for leftover hard boiled eggs.

I thought I would share with you some of the recipes that I am thinking about making with my 48 hard boiled eggs. Some of the recipes were great because they used A LOT of eggs and I have A LOT to use up! Some of the recipes were really unique -- like cookies? Mmm...to make cookies with hard boiled eggs? Yay -- right up my ally!

After I try these recipes, I hope to share with you the "end" result and critique of what Lil Daisies thought of it. If you have some other recipes that use up hard boiled eggs, I would love to hear! Because we all know that we need some new good recipes for hard boiled eggs -- "No Man can Eat 50 eggs!!"

THE RECIPES

Sunday Morning Egg Casserole

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons butter or margarine
• 4 tablespoons dry sherry, divided
• 1 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
• 1 can (10 3/4 oz.) condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
• 8 oz sour cream
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped onion
• 2 oz. jar chopped pimiento, drained
• 10 oz. package frozen green peas, thawed and drained
• 14 hard-cooked eggs, cut lengthwise into 4 wedges
• 8 oz can sliced water chestnuts, drained
• 1 cup fresh bread crumbs {2 slices bread}
• 1 tablespoon butter or margarine, melted

Method

Preheat oven to 375°F

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet; add 2 tablespoons sherry and mushrooms, and cook over medium heat 5 minutes or until mushrooms are tender. Drain well; set aside.

Combine remaining 2 tablespoons sherry, soup, and next 6 ingredients in a medium saucepan. Cook 2 minutes or until mixture is bubbly; stir in mushrooms and peas. Arrange egg wedges and water chestnuts in bottom of a lightly greased 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking dish. Pour soup mixture evenly over top. Combine bread crumbs and melted butter. Sprinkle over soup mixture.

Bake in preheated 375°F oven for 20 minutes or until top is golden.

South African Curry Eggs

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 2 1/2 teaspoons hot curry powder
• 2 tablespoons cake flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Freshly milled black pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon brown vinegar
• 1 to 1 1/2 cups water
• 6 hard boiled eggs, shelled and halved

METHOD

Heat butter in a saucepan and sauté onions gently until just browned. Remove from heat.

In a small bowl, mix curry powder, flour, salt, pepper and sugar into the vinegar.

Incorporate curry mixture into onions and stir, slowly adding the water. Simmer continuously for 10-15 minutes.

Taste for seasoning and adjust accordingly.

Arrange halved eggs on a warm dish, and gently spoon on the curry sauce.

Serve with rice

EGG CURRY
Slightly adapted from The Great Curries of India, by Camellia Panjabi, this curry comes from the Chettinad region and serves 2-3.

Ingredients:

6 large eggs, hardboiled
3 tsp ground coriander
1-1/2 tsp cayenne pepper or paprika
1 tsp fennel seed
1 tsp cumin seed
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 x 1/4 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled
2 large cloves of garlic
2 Tbsp vegetable or canola oil or grapeseed oil
1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds
1/2 tsp fennel seed
2-inch cinnamon stick
8 oz onions, finely chopped
8 oz tomatoes (fresh or canned), finely chopped
Kosher salt
7 oz canned coconut milk
Juice of 1/2 lime

METHOD:

Peel the eggs and halve them lengthwise. Set aside.

In a blender, put the coriander, cayenne or paprika, 1 tsp fennel seed, cumin seed, turmeric, ginger and garlic. Add 2 Tbsp water and blend to a thick paste.

Heat the oil in a deep sauté pan or small Dutch oven. Fry the fenugreek seeds, 1/2 tsp fennel seeds and cinnamon stick for 10 seconds. Add the onion, and sauté until lightly colored. Add the spice paste and continue cooking for 7 minutes; it will darken in color from the coriander, but do not overcook. Add a few drops of water if the onions stick to the pan. Then, add the tomatoes, and cook for 2-3 minutes.

Add 3 cups of water with salt to taste, and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes, to make a smooth gravy. Just before serving, add the coconut milk and bring to the boil. Add the lime juice, taste, and add more salt if necessary. Gently place the hardboiled eggs, yolks facing up, into the sauce. Place in a serving dish, and serve with brown or white basmati or jasmine rice.

Hard Cooked Egg Cookies

Ingredients:

• Zest of 1 lemon + 1/2 tsp lemon extract

10 tbsp sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup butter

4 hard cooked/boiled eggs, peeled

1 egg

3 cups allpurpose flour

1 egg white, lightly beaten

1/2 cup sugar

METHOD:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Cream together lemon zest, lemon extract, sugar, salt and butter in a food processor. Add in hard boiled eggs and process until fully incorporated. Mix in egg. Add flour and pulse until dough just comes together.

At this point you can chill the dough for a bit if your kitchen is very hot, otherwise roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface until it is 1/4 inch thick and cut into rounds with a 2 inch cookie or biscuit cutter. Dip the cut cookies into the egg white then dredge in the sugar. Arrange on baking sheet - cookies will not spread - and bake until just beginning to brown at the edges, about 12 minutes.

Remove to a wire rack to cool.

Makes 4 dozen.