“Chipotle” Deviled Eggs

ref=”https://thinktasty1.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/chipotle-eggs-400×400.jpg”>Deviled eggs come in infinite variety, with everything from mustard to smoked salmon added to the yolks. After all, hard boiled egg yolks are so bland they’ll blend in with close to any other food. They’re also so bland it’s natural to want to spice them up. (Yes, hard boiled eggs can be rough on the digestion even without spicy stuff added. All I can say is, try drinking a lot of water while you eat.)

Mayonnaise in its original form is pretty bland too, but a few years back I discovered chipotle mayonnaise. It was tasty stuff, but not enough to buy when it wasn’t on sale — and I was right in thinking I could duplicate it more or less with regular mayonnaise and barbecue sauce. That’s what we do here, to get the smoke and spice flavor of chipotle peppers without using any.

Since hard boiled eggs (use as many as you want, I don’t care) are at the heart of this recipe, let’s run through a crash course in making them. They’re one of those simple dishes that can go wrong in many ways, so I’ll share the ways I’ve found to keep them going right.

Boil enough water to cover the eggs and then some; part of it will be boiling off. You don’t have to salt the water; it won’t hurt, but it won’t keep the eggshells from cracking.

What will? A tiny hole in the wide end of the egg. It may also let out a little of the white, but that’s okay. Use a large needle or something of similar size — I’ve used the point of my smallest crochet hook, but a skewer would probably be too big. Do it carefully, without too much pressure, or the shell will crack before you’ve even tried to boil the egg.

Use a spoon to put the eggs in the boiling water. This keeps them from cracking on the bottom of the pot or splashing boiling water on you.

Let them boil for 10 to 12 minutes. I know, some say you don’t need to boil them, and even that you shouldn’t, but this is the best way I’ve found to cook them through — I hate it when the center is undercooked.

And everybody hates the dark green ring around a hard boiled egg yolk. To keep it from forming, when the eggs are done, immediately pour the hot water out of the pot and replace it with cold. Do this two or three times, then put the egg in the fridge.

When it’s cooled . . .