The Spirit World

You are probably aware that Sunday is Easter. For some reason, Easter and lemon are two things that just naturally go together in my mind. Lemon is yellow and sunny and springy. Things I think of when I think of Easter. But even more than those associations, I think it’s because one of my family’s traditions is Lemon Meringue Pie for Easter dinner. So for this weekend, I think that a Citrus Martini is in order! Now, a Citrus Martini is really just a fancy Lemon Drop but the addition of the Cointreau is a nice touch. This recipe is from “The Art of the Cocktail“, by Ben Reed.

Citrus Martini

2 oz Cytryonowka Vodka (Citron or Lemon)
1 oz fresh lemon juice
1 oz Cointreau
Dash of Simple Syrup
Lemon zest to garnish

Add all the ingredients to a shaker filled with ice, shake sharply and strain into chilled martini glass. Garnish with strips of lemon zest.

To go with your Citrus Martini I’m going to recommend an old, old standard. You will probably have plenty of hard boiled eggs around the house and, if you don’t, they are very easy to make so the natural choice for this week’s appetizer is Deviled Eggs.

Deviled Eggs never seem to go out of style and it always amazes me how much people love them. Several years ago a friend and I catered a wedding and the bride ordered 12 dozen Deviled Eggs! We tried to tell her that was way too many for the number of guests she was expecting but she insisted. Good thing she did - we couldn’t keep the platters filled and they were one of the first things to go!

You can make these as basic or as fancy as you’d like. Even the basic recipe can be jazzed up a bit.

Deviled Eggs

4 hard-boiled eggs, peeled
Mayonnaise
Dijon Mustard
Salt and pepper

Green onions, green parts thinly sliced
Paprika

Slice the eggs in half. Put the yolks in a small bowl, add mayonnaise, a little mustard and salt and pepper to taste. Mix until the yolks are smooth and creamy, adding more mayonnaise if needed.

Spoon or pipe the filling back into the egg white halves.

Garnish with a sprinkle of paprika and a few green onion slices.

Now the trick is to not fill all the egg halves so that you have enough filling to really mound it up for a generous presentation. 4 eggs will yield about 7 halves.

If you pipe, use a large star or flowered tip so that you fill the egg half in one easy motion.

Invest in some really great Spanish paprika like, El Rey. I especially like their Hot and Bittersweet varieties.

There are several ways to jazz this basic recipe up. Kathy Casey suggests a couple of ideas in her cookbook, Dishing with Kathy Casey. I’ve made both and they are great!

The first method adds sour cream, Chipotle, garlic and green onion to the yolks and then uses tomatoes, onions, Chipotle and cilantro for garnish.

The second recipe adds things like curry paste, Tabasco, bay shrimp and ginger to the yolks and then includes more shrimp in the garnish.

Use your imagination - what kind of ingredients do you like in omelets? Think of adding very small amounts of some of those ingredients to your Deviled Eggs and you’ll soon have a specialty of your own!