Steakhouse Deviled Eggs Recipe

Note: If the eggs you're using are superfresh (as farm-fresh eggs sometimes are), add 1 tsp. baking soda to the cooking water. The alkalinity of the soda makes them easier to peel. (This, courtesy of food scientist Harold McGee.)
Makes 12 deviled egg halves

Ingredients

• 6 large eggs
• 1 tsp. baking soda, optional
• 6 Tbsp. mayonnaise
• 1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
• Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 3 slices thick-cut bacon
• 2/3 cup fresh bread crumbs
• 1 sheet nori (dried seaweed)

Directions

Put the eggs in a saucepan and cover with water by 2 inches. If you're using farm-fresh eggs, add 1 tsp. baking soda to the water (see Note). Set the pan over high heat and bring the water to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 2 minutes. Then remove the pan from the heat and let the eggs sit in the water for exactly 10 minutes.

Pour off the hot water and cover the eggs with fresh cold water. Crack the eggs gently and return them to the cold water.

When cool enough to handle, peel the eggs underwater. Slice each egg in half lengthwise and drop the cooked yolks into a medium mixing bowl. (Refrigerate the whites if making ahead.)

With a rubber spatula or a wide wooden spoon, paddle the yolks until smooth. Add the mayonnaise, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, 1/4 tsp. pepper and a pinch of salt and stir until light and fluffy. Transfer the yolk mixture to a clean quart-size plastic bag. (Refrigerate if making ahead.)

Cut each bacon slice into thirds and cook in a small skillet set over medium heat until lightly crisp. Remove the bacon from the skillet, reserving 2 Tbsp. of the fat, and finely mince.

Add the bread crumbs to the pan and cook over medium heat, stirring and seasoning with a pinch each of salt and pepper, until they turn golden and crisp, about 5 minutes. Combine the crumbs with the bacon.

Holding the nori sheet with tongs, toast it over an open flame (or if you have an electric stove, over a burner set on high) until it shines and becomes brittle, about 30 seconds. With scissors, cut the sheet into a thick stack and then into tiny pieces, as small as the bacon. Add 1/3 cup chopped nori to the bacon mixture. When you're ready to serve the eggs, preheat the oven to 325°.

Arrange the egg white halves on an oven-safe platter. Push the filling to the bottom of its bag and snip a 1/2-inch opening in one of the bottom corners. Squeeze the yolk filling into the egg whites.

Warm the eggs in the oven until the yolk mixture turns soft and luscious, about 5 minutes. Cover the eggs with a dense smattering of the bacon-nori crumbs, and serve.

From The New Midwestern Table: 200 Heartland Recipes (Clarkson Potter) by Amy Thielen.

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