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Not Your Mamma’s Egg Salad

  • April 22, 2019

Happy Pasquetta! That’s the holiday after Easter when Italians all have off from work and school and take off to the country for picnics and another day of rest. Typically, they eat cold foods like leftover frittata or pizza rustic, but many people have leftover hard boiled eggs too and use them for egg salad mixed with mayonnaise.

Instead of the typical egg salad, try this different version (no mayo at all) from culinary legend Paula Wolfert, the most famous cook you’ve never heard of. Born in the U.S., she’s written nine cookbooks and has lived in Morocco before it was a travel destination on every Millenial’s to-do list. Sadly, she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, and the book “Unforgettable,” by Emily Kaiser Thelin, tells of her journey from a childhood in Brooklyn, to living around the world and bringing her recipes to American cooks through her cookbooks and magazine articles.

The book also addresses Wolfert’s disease and how she is dealing with it through a brain-healthy diet. If you’ve never heard of her before, you’ll learn a lot about this influential cookbook writer in this book, and find lots of intriguing recipes too, including this one for a mint-laced egg salad.

Oh, and if you want a fail-proof primer on making perfect hard-boiled eggs, click here.

Buona Pasquetta!

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Not Your Mamma's Egg Salad
Author: 
 
Ingredients
  • 4 large eggs, boiled (see Ciao Chow Linda archives on "How to make perfect hard boiled eggs"
  • 1 to 2 cups slivered mint leaves
  • (depending on the intensity of the mint)
  • 1 cup thinly sliced green onions, white and green parts
  • 2 teaspoons mild red pepper flakes, preferably Marash
  • 2 tablespoons fruity extra-virgin olive oil
  • juice of ½ lemon
  • flaky sea salt
Instructions
  1. Peel the eggs.
  2. Using the large holes of a box grater, and working over a large bowl, grate the eggs.
  3. Add the mint, green onions, and red pepper flakes and mix well.
  4. In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil and lemon juice to taste, then drizzle over the egg mixture and toss to coat lightly and evenly.
  5. Season with salt.
  6. Serve at room temperature or slightly chilled.
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Le Matte Hit The Road For Pasquetta

  • April 13, 2009

It may be just another workday if you live in the U.S., but if you’re in Italy, it’s Pasquetta or Easter Monday and you’ve got the day off from work. Most people spend the day with family and friends enjoying a picnic lunch in a park or the countryside.

Le Matte, my Italian chit-chat group, is celebrating Pasquetta by taking a road trip to the beach. Clara, one of our members, invited us to share the day with her at her vacation home on the Jersey shore. We’re a large group of more than 25, but not everyone is available on every meeting. Today there are at least eight of us are heading out, toting all sorts of yummy foods that we will enjoy once we get to Clara’s beachhouse. I wish you could join us.
Here’s my contribution.

Deviled Eggs

one dozen eggs, hard boiled (click here for a post on how to make perfectly cooked hard-boiled eggs.)
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tsp. Dijon mustard
1/8 tsp. salt
white pepper, to taste
1/4 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. white wine vinegar

Put the yolks and all the other ingredients in a food processor. Pulse until everything is blended and smooth. I then use a pastry bag to pipe it into the egg whites, but you can spoon it in. Sprinkle with paprika. Decorate with either edible flowers, pieces of pickle, red or green pepper, tomato strips or anything else you can dream up.