Calling all egg salad fans! If you're like me, you can't resist a good cold "sandwich salad" like tuna fish, egg or chicken. They are so good on a good quality bread or just by themselves with crackers or raw veggies.
Like tuna fish or chicken salad, egg salad can have variations. Some people add sweet pickles (a practice I've never understood) or hot spices or something unusual like avocado. This version I've made starts with a classic, basic egg salad recipe but then goes to the next level with some unexpected, but complimentary ingredients.
The basic recipe
To start, get a dozen hard boiled eggs. Either boil and peel them yourself, or buy the pre-boiled kind in bags from the store. Chop the eggs with broad knife or a mezzaluna (a big bowl works well to keep the pieces from going everywhere) or use a food processor. You'll want the pieces of the whites to be rather small, but not into complete crumbs.
Add 2-4 tablespoons of mayonnaise. If you really want to take it to the next level, you can make your own mayonnaise by following my recipe for homemade mayo. If you've never tried making your own mayo, I'd highly recommend it as the flavor and freshness can't be beat.
Also add a couple teaspoons of mustard. Many recipes call for yellow mustard, but you can also use dijon or brown mustard.
Now add a capful or so of vinegar or lemon juice (or both, if you like!) to give it nice twang. After that, add some salt and pepper to taste and mix the whole thing together. You now have a basic egg salad.
Make it Eggcellent
Chop up 2-3 stalk of celery and 1/4 to 1/2 of a onion, depending on how big it is and add both to the salad. This is not the unusual part as many egg salad recipes call for these two items, but they are definitely essential to giving this salad some crunch. Actually, if you happen to have it, use shallots instead of an onion. Shallots have such an intense yet smooth flavor that works well here. Chop finely enough shallots to fill about a 1/4 cup measure if using them.
Now comes some of the fun stuff! Get a little spice going by adding a light sprinkle of cayenne powder, a few dashes of Tabasco, or any similar spicy stuff you have handy. We don't want it too spicy, but just enough that you barely notice some heat when you eat it.
Also add either some chopped fresh or dried parsley, about two tablespoons of the former or one tablespoon of the later. This adds flavor but also some color to the salad.
Add a dash of smoked paprika (any paprika you have handy will work though), maybe 1/2 a teaspoon or so.
Alcohol makes everything good, right? Add a little dribble of white wine to the mix, preferably something dry like pinot grigio. I happened to have an open bottle of chardonnay, so I tipped that in.
Okay, now here's the secret ingredient! To really punch in an "umami" flavor, I used a teaspoon of miso paste. I believe mine was red miso, but white miso would also be fine. To make it easier to mix, you could even thin the miso paste with the liquid ingredients ahead of time and dump it in together. If you don't have miso, other items that might work would be yeast extract (if you're a fan of Marmite or Vegemite) or bullion paste. I just like miso because it also provides some healthy probiotics.
Mix well and serve and top with fresh, chopped green onion or dried chives! This would be fantastic on some fresh croissants, but any sandwich bread would be fine, or scoop it with your favorite crackers. This got a big thumbs up from my vegetarian roommate but could also be augmented with canned tuna if you're feeling more carnivorous. Other fun stuff to add or lay on top for a sandwich include thinly sliced mushrooms or avocado.
Tell me how it turned out for you if you give it a whirl, or share some of your favorite variations of egg salad!