Flowers for the Most Important Meal of the Day

Chive-Tarragon Deviled Eggs topped with Chive Blossom

Having friends over for brunch is not only a great excuse to use some of my chicken dishes but also an excellent reason to use edible flowers and herbs in the food. My first idea was to make deviled eggs to serve in this cute chicken platter (an egg-shaped salt and pepper shaker set nests inside the hen). Then I thought I’d stick a whole chive flower on each one instead of just sprinkling the petals over them. But knowing we wouldn’t eat those powerfully flavored flowers, I decided I should put some chives inside the eggs. I found a recipe on recipes.com that uses tarragon as well as chives, and I thought that sounded very good.  It was. The tarragon really lent a nice flavor to the eggs.  I grow tarragon but do not usually do much with it, so it’s nice to have found another way to use it.  This is definitely a recipe worth making again, perhaps for the next Master Gardeners potluck meeting.

Chive-Tarragon Deviled Eggs

Prep: 15 min., Chill: 1 hr

Ingredients:

• 1 dozen large eggs, hard-cooked and peeled
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/8 teaspoon hot sauce
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh chives
• 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh tarragon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
• Garnishes: chopped fresh chives, fresh flat-leaf parsley sprigs

Preparation

Cut eggs in half lengthwise; carefully remove yolks. Mash egg yolks; stir in mayonnaise, lemon juice, hot sauce, and next 4 ingredients. Spoon or pipe egg yolk mixture evenly into egg white halves. Cover and chill at least 1 hour or until ready to serve. Garnish, if desired.

Elizabeth H. Howard, New Orleans, Louisiana, Southern Living
APRIL 2005

Posted on recipes.com