When I think party in the summer in the South, I think pimento cheese sandwiches, watermelon, sweet iced tea…and deviled eggs!
Now, I am not typically a deviled egg fan. They seem pretty boring…and mayo-y and well, just not too crave worthy. But, a few years ago, Gavin and I were invited to JCT Kitchen for lunch. The people with us insisted on ordering the deviled eggs with country ham as an appetizer…if I would have known how amazing our appetizer would be, I would have been REALLY excited. But, I wasn’t, I didn’t have high hopes!
A beautiful plate of deviled eggs arrived at our table, and I reluctantly dug in. The flavor explosion that occurred in my mouth was a much welcome surprise…I was in love…and I knew that no deviled egg would ever measure up to these.
Since the JCT version are a little pricey…and since I now crave them, I decided I should try to recreate them!
I read some recipes online, tried to pick out the flavors in the JCT version, and came up with a recipe that I think is pretty close! They are creamy…with a nice added crispness from toasted proscuitto, and perfect for any party…or lunch, or snack! They are just plain good.
Fancified Deviled Eggs
12 large eggs
3 Tablespoons mayo (I used olive oil mayo)
3 Tablespoons room temp cream cheese
3 Tablespoons room temp goat cheese
2 Tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Fresh cracked black pepper
1 large clove of FRESH crushed garlic
2 small Clausen pickles, diced really small (you can use others but these are definitely best!)
3 pieces of proscuitto
1 green onion (just the green part) finely chopped
Place the eggs in a large saucepan filled with water (one inch above the eggs) and bring it to a boil over high heat. Once the water boils, turn off the heat and let the eggs stand of 10 minutes. Put the cooked eggs into an ice water bath until chilled, and then peel them!
Once the eggs are peeled, cut them in half, length wise and set the yolks aside.
In a medium bowl, mix the mayo, cream cheese, goat cheese, dijon, salt, pepper, garlic and pickle until smooth. Next, add the egg yolks and them, using an electric mixer, beat until creamy.
Now, place the egg whites on a serving platter. Fill a baggie with the yolk mixture (if you have an icing tip, insert it to make the filling prettier…if not, just cut off the corner of the bag and pipe it that way). Fill each white and them place the platter in the fridge to chill.
Next, place the proscuitto on a baking sheet and bake them in a 350 degree oven until crispy…about 7 minutes. Remove the prosiutto from the oven and allow it to cool. Then, break it into 24 jagged looking pieces.
Once the eggs are chilled, remove them from the fridge and top each one with a piece of proscuitto and a sprinkle of green onion.
