Almost everyone has some kind of memory or feeling about deviled eggs. Growing up in the South, The Revelry owner Josh Miles certainly ate enough of them, and when planning the menu for his new restaurant a few years back, wanted to be sure they would be on there—but with a twist.
The Revelry has now turned this picnic delicacy into one of the most fashionable appetizers in town. Beet deviled eggs are a hot item on the menu, which is largely composed of classic Southern comfort food. These are no exception, despite the rather unorthodox presentation. They’re comfortable and familiar, but they’re cool. And they sell themselves.
The Revelry sells about twelve dozen eggs’ worth a day.
Luckily, the preparation is simple to replicate at home. Here’s how:
Using an electric juicer, blend raw beets (use three to four large beets for every six eggs) and add a tablespoon of lemon juice. Take hard-boiled eggs that have been shelled and cooled and soak them in the juice for at least thirty minutes, or until the whites have turned a deep pink.
Note: This step does not include any pickle brine, as you might expect. In addition to giving the eggs an aesthetically pleasing color, the juice gives a light, earthy beet flavor (never sour) to the whites.
Remove the eggs from the beet juice, cut them in half “the short way” and gently remove the yolks, placing them in a mixing bowl. Add ¼ cup of regular mayonnaise and ¼ cup of spicy mustard. The Revelry uses Zatarain’s Creole mustard, but any kind will do.
Add a dash of celery salt and beat the filling with a fork until well combined. Using a piping bag, squeeze the filling into the hollowed-out eggs.
What goes on top? Start by sprinkling on a little brown butter cornbread crumb, which you can make by toasting a piece of well-buttered cornbread and crumbling it by hand.
Next, add mustard seed caviar—called so because it has the appearance of fish eggs. You can make a sizable batch of this ingredient by taking one cup of mustard seed, covering it with champagne vinegar and a quarter cup of honey, and bringing it to a boil. Then remove it from the heat and place the mixture in an airtight container to let the seeds soften. Voila! You have a lovely, textured topping.
The seed blooms, so it makes little pops in your mouth.
Finally, lay small slices of thick-cut bacon on the eggs, sprinkle them with microgreens, and garnish the plate with very thin slices of raw beets.
The finished product might seem a little too pretty to eat, but they do not disappoint. My visit included a tasting session. As I dug into the artistic morsels, the flavors I have come to love from my own deviled egg experiences were all there. Yes, this was real comfort food all dressed up.
“I can’t eat all of these myself,” I thought, despite these sensations. But I did.
And so should you.
Bethany Bushen is a Rochester area freelance writer. Follow her at @BRBushen.
This article originally appeared in the July/August 2016 issue of (585).
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