A Mother of all Challenges: Egg Salad

So one of the daunting tasks of getting married (in my opinion) is making the foods your spouse loves and grew up with. For us, one of the first foods of D's childhood I tried my hand at was his mom's deviled eggs. Hers are different than the ones I grew up with: my mom's are tangy while hers are sweet. So for Thanksgiving last year I decided to try her deviled eggs and, thank goodness, D and his mom and dad declared them satisfactory. But one thing that D's mom makes that I had never been willing to try was her egg salad, even though (as they frequently pointed out) it is the same exact recipe as her deviled eggs (which I love). But I recently saw a post on another blog for egg salad and it got me thinking about trying some. So, when D requested egg salad last night, I decided it was time. So today I made his mom's egg salad and, though D hasn't tasted it yet, I have and it tastes pretty darn good to me. This will definitely become a frequent meal this summer.

One of the things I love about this recipe (for deviled eggs or the egg salad) is that it is incredibly versatile and can be tweaked for your tastes and the amount you want to make. Today I made this with 9 eggs, but you can make as many as you want.



Egg Salad

Source: My mother-in-law

Ingredients

Eggs
Mayo
Miracle Whip
Your Favorite Brand of French Dressing OR BBQ Sauce
Pepper

The Recipe:
Eggs (I used 9)

Boil the eggs however you choose (We put them in a sauce pan, cover them with water, and then put them on medium-high heat on my gas stove for 20 minutes.)

Let the eggs cool completely

Cut the eggs, separate out the yolk, and cute the whites into small pieces and set aside in a bowl.
Place the egg yolks in a second bowl or food processor (I used the food processor)

Pulse yolks or smash with a fork until they are broken up into little pieces. Add to this a tablespoon of Mayo and one of Miracle Whip. Then add a small amount (roughly a teaspoon) of French Dressing or BBQ Sauce. Pulse or stir the mixture. Continue adding more Mayo and Miracle Whip and small amounts of the dressing or sauce until you reach the consistency you want. The thing to remember here is that the Mayo and Miracle Whip are basically just thinning out the mixture and providing the consistency, they aren't really adding any flavor. The flavor comes from the French Dressing or BBQ Sauce.

Add pepper to taste.

Pour the mixture over the egg whites and stir thoroughly. Allow to chill for at least an hour before eating. Goes great with homemade bread, toasted bread, or crackers.