Deviled Eggs

I've tried many different deviled eggs and let me tell you, every one of them have tasted different. Some I liked and some I didn't. I stick to the recipe I always helped my mom make growing up because to me, it tastes a lot better than any other one I've tried. It's a fairly simply recipe. I don't measure the ingredients really, it's more of eyeballing them and tasting it as I go along to see if I need anything else.

Ingredients:
4-5 large eggs
mustard
pepper
Worcestshire sauce
mayonnaise

Optional:
paprika
relish

The first thing you have to do is boil eggs. I usually boil 4-5 depending on how many people are going to be eating them because you have to remember each egg, makes 2 pieces. To boil eggs, cover eggs with water in a pot, cover and bring to boil. Once they begin to boil, turn burner off and let them sit for 12 minutes with the lid on. Once they are done, it's best to let them cool a little to where you can handle them without burning yourself or if you're in a hurry, hold them under running cold water as you're peeling them so they don't burn you.

Once the eggs are peeled, cut them in half, the long way. Carefully remove the yolk by turning the egg over and gently pushing the white, popping out the yolk. I've tried many methods of mashing the yolks and I finally came up with the best one, that makes the yolks always smooth, never lumpy. A strainer. I have a little metal strainer that I use (in the picture), that I put all the yolks in and use the back of a spoon to mash them through it. If you don't have one, you can always just use a fork; it just takes longer and it may have little lumps in it.

When the yolks are all mashed, you can start adding the other ingredients. A few shakes of Worcestershire sauce is all you need since it is pretty salty. Be careful not to add too much. Remember less is more. You can always add, but can never take out. 1/4 tsp pepper and a  1/2 tsp mustard is about as much as I use, but you can always add more to your liking. For the mayonnaise, I start with about a tbsp or two and mix it up and add little by little until it's the creamy consistency that I want. After you've tasted it and got it to your liking, I like to split mine in half and do the deviled eggs two different ways: one plain and one with relish. If you want the plain, then you are done and can start spooning the filling back into the egg halves. I like to top the plain ones with sprinkled paprika. If you want the relish ones, add about a tsp of relish (I like to use dill relish) and then fill the egg halves. Both are equally good, but some people don't like pickles so they stick to just making the plain ones.

Bacon Wrapped Crab Stuffed Shrimp

Bacon...Crab...Shrimp...what more can you want? These things are amazing, one of my favorite things to make, but they definitely make you work for them. Yes, they aren't the healthiest of foods and I try to stick to healthier options, but I can't say no to these from time to time. You want to impress a date or a loved one and prove to them that you can make something delicious? Then these are the perfect bite sized treats. I will say tho, that they do take a bit of time and can get a bit pricey depending on seafood costs where you live, but it makes a good amount.

I've tried making this recipe with colossal shrimp (the biggest I could find) and I've also used jumbo and extra large. I wouldn't go smaller than extra large tho Jumbo are a lot cheaper and you get more for your buck. I like having the smaller ones and having a bigger quantity of them because then you get more bacon and filling per bite. I guess it's just a personal preference. If you're going for presentation, I'd use colossal. They just take a little longer to cook in the oven.

The original site I got the recipe from was http://foododelmundo.com/2009/08/25/bacon-wrapped-crab-stuffed-jumbo-shrimp/ I will always credit my sources because if it wasn't for them, I'd probably never have thought of it, but I like to add my own little twists, especially if I try making the recipe a few times with different variations.

The original recipe uses Jumbo, but you can adjust for extra large if you want smaller ones. I want to say the extra large you needed about 20, give or take a few. It also depends on how much you stuff them. Make sure you peel and devein them. I like to leave just the tails on. It also helps to cut a little deeper down the backs of the shrimp to give you more room to fit the stuffing in.

Along with the shrimp, you'll need a pound of bacon. I cut my slices of bacon because when they wrapped around the shrimp multiple times, sometimes the inner layers didn't get very crispy and I like my bacon crispy. The amount of pieces you cut them into all varies on the size of shrimp you're using, but they should warp around at least once to make sure the filling is held into place.

For the filling:
 1 lb crab meat (I use a crab that comes in a can kind of like tuna fish)
 1 egg
 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
 cayenne pepper (you only need a pinch, but can add more if you like it spicy)
 1 tsp salt
 1/2 cup bead crumbs
 1/4 cup mayonnaise
 juice from 1/2 lemon
 1/4 tsp garlic powder (I like fresh chopped garlic)
 1 tsp dried mustard

Combine together all these ingredients until it forms a crab cake like mixture.

Stuff the shrimp with as much filling as you can without it falling out all over the place. If you end up with extra crab mixture, I like to make mini crab cakes and stick them in with the shrimp to cook. Wrap the bacon around the shrimp, holding it all together and stick a toothpick through it.

*Tip: It always helps to soak the toothpicks in water first, so they don't burn in the oven.

Lay them on a cookie sheet, I cover mine with aluminum foil and stick them in the oven on broil for a few minutes. Keep a close eye on them because when broiling stuff, it can burn quickly. Once one side is browned, take them out and flip them over. Put them back in for a few more minutes until the other side is brown. If you don't have a broiler option, you can put them in the oven at 400 degrees for 5-10 minutes until they're browned, flip and repeat.