Not Your Mama's Deviled Eggs Recipe

Get ready to stand tradition on its ear and then some!  This will be your new dish-to-pass at any picnics or parties this summer - I PROMISE!

I am not a spicy hot foods person.  I like many things, and generally will try almost anything once.  Well, maybe I'm not that brave, but the day I saw this recipe in a hand-me-down stack of old magazines, it sounded too good not to try.

SPH Totally Untraditional Deviled Eggs Recipe
inspired by a recipe by Patricia Harmon
from Taste of Home Magazine, February/March 2009

6 eggs, hard boiled and sliced in half
(wipe your knife in between eggs to avoid getting yolk all over the other eggs)
1 ounce cream cheese (more if needed to thicken yolk mixture that is too thin)
1/3-1/2 cup mayonnaise (start with 1/3 cup, then add more if needed to thin the mixture)
1 ounce diced chilies from a can (roughly 1/4 can - more or less to your taste)
1/2 teaspoon chipotle chili powder (more or less to your taste)
1 tablespoon minced garlic (I get mine from a jar - you can use more or less to your taste)

Optional Toppings:
Salsa
Sliced ripe olives (shown)
Shredded cheese (shown - I used Mexican cheese mix, but you can use what you like or have on hand)
Sliced green onions
Sour cream

Remove cooked egg yolks from eggs, and place in blender with cream cheese, mayonnaise, chilis, chili powder, and garlic.  Blend until smooth and creamy.  Yep, that's the trick for a no-lump filling.  If your filling is too thin, add more cream cheese - too thick, add more mayo.  Simple.  Pour contents into a zip top bag.  Ask a kid or husband to hold it open for you, or place in a glass or jar.  Fold the edges over the edge of the jar.  This will keep the zipper part from getting goopy when you pour stuff into it from the blender.  Seal the bag, and snip off one of the bottom corners of the bag.  Not too much - just enough to let the filling come out easily.  Squeeze filling into eggs, then top as desired.  Use any leftover filling as a dip for celery, cucumbers, carrots and jicama.

I will never eat regular deviled eggs again.  Seriously!  As a not-liker of spicy foods, this actually has what I'd call good heat.  It doesn't fry your mouth or tongue, but you'll definitely feel warm at the back of your tongue, where it's much less painful.  And it's a pleasant warm, not "I need a fire extinguisher!".  These are definitely a more modern, grown-up take on a traditional favorite.

And as for the toppings...

Take them in small separate containers, and let folks make their own deviled egg creations.  Kind of like a taco bar, but yours will be a spicy deviled egg bar.    How fun and different would that be?!

Just remember that these eggs are made with mayonnaise.  Mayonnaise and warm weather do not always play nicely with each other, so be sure when you bring them somewhere you have them adequately cooled, and kept cool throughout the day.  Think ice, and think lots and lots of it, unless you will be in an air-conditioned location.  These eggs are amazing, and you'll want to be remembered for their flavor, not for food poisoning.

Try a new twist on an old favorite, and ENJOY!!!