Monday, December 23, 2013

Crab-Stuffed Deviled Eggs – I Love to Say I Told You So

I love deviled eggs, and have probably had fifty different versions over the years, but these crab-stuffed beauties may be my favorite. The sweet crab is a perfect compliment to the spicy eggs, but above and beyond the delicious flavors, these just look extra special. Okay, that’s enough about the recipe…now, on to more important matters.

Considering the fact that we’ve done almost 1,000 uploads, we’ve had very few controversial recipes. And by “controversial, I mean videos that caused vigorous debate about whether the recipe actually works as shown. One such video was our “How to Make Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs.”

While most had no issues, a small but vocal group claimed the recipe didn’t work at all. Some went so far as to say the video was a hoax, as if the egg industry had gotten to me, and convinced me to trick my viewers into wasting eggs to increase sales. I’ll admit, it is a brilliant plan, but it’s not true.

To prove my innocence, I’ve used the exact same method here, and once again, perfection. As long as you’re using a decent pot (as in not paper-thin), enough water, and can manage to successfully set a timer, I’m not sure what can go wrong. By the way, I used cold eggs, so that’s not an issue, as some surmised after the first tutorial. To summarize: I told you this works.

Regardless of how you cook your hard-boiled eggs, this would make a stellar hors d'oeuvre for any special occasion meal. You can be as frugal or extravagant as you want, and the garnishing options are pretty much limitless. Speaking of garnishes, that is a lemon, and not an orange! It's actually a Meyer lemon which have a much warmer color than standard lemons. I hope you give these a try soon. Enjoy!


Ingredients:

For the bottoms:
*6 large hard-boiled eggs (makes 12 pieces)
2 oz fresh crab meat, chopped
3 or 4 tbsp mayonnaise, or enough to achieve desired consistency
few drops of Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp lemon juice
2 tsp chopped tarragon
1/2 tsp hot sauce or to taste
pinch of old bay
salt and pepper to taste (don't be shy with the salt)

For the crab topping:
2 oz fresh crab meat, shredded slightly
1 or 2 tsp crème fraiche or sour cream
lemon zest of one lemon
Aleppo pepper to taste
salt if needed
Fresh chives
Cayenne

* I only made 12 portions, but this method will work with more. Just be sure your eggs are cover by at least an inch or two of cold water, and proceed as show.

40 comments:

Judy said...

Ya--I dunno what people could be doing to mess up boiling eggs that way, but I have been doing it for a while and it ALWAYS works great.

And yes--I thought that was an orange in the middle at first glance!

Welcome back Chef! Have a wonderful rest of the Holiday Season and best wishes to you and yours! :)

Chibby said...

Welcome back, Cotter! Welcome back, welcome back,welcome back. Thanks for posting a low carb recpie!!! <3 Merry Christmas

Rita said...

welcome back, chef j! i trust you had an awesome break with the family? we miss visiting the fingerlakes area. hubby's dad is from rochester.

anyhoo, that crab-stuffed deviled eggs look so divine! thanks :)

CaptChris said...

I thought you were taking time off! Luscious tidbits and assorted doo dads is why I think we all tune in to your website Chef John! Thank you for this recipe! I will be a rock star at the family gathering this week. Pura Vida!

Anonymous said...

Chef,

Please keep the Deviled Egg recipes coming! I love them!

KL said...

Chef John, how long do I have to leave my eggs for them to be soft-boiled/half-boiled?

Unknown said...

Welcome back Chef! This looks fabulous. Do you ever turn your eggs over in the carton the day before, to center the yolks in the whites? I just wondered if that really worked.

PhillyBear said...

I use your egg method all the time, perfection as you say. Merry Christmas to you and yours, Chef.

KL said...

Hi Chef John, I'm not sure if my earlier question got through. I asked what timing would give me half-boiled (aka soft-boiled) eggs? Please ignore if you've seen the previous comment. Thank you!

Unknown said...

Nom nom nom nom! Those look incredible chef! Thanks for sharing and Happy Holidays!

Chef John said...

Not sure about soft boiled eggs. Haven't made those for years. I think 3-5 min? You'd better google to be sure.

Chef John said...

Not sure about soft boiled eggs. Haven't made those for years. I think 3-5 min? You'd better google to be sure.

nightsmusic said...

WAH! Wish I'd seen this yesterday. I did all my appetizers shopping this morning. Three dozen eggs and no crab :(

On a side note, I cover my eggs with an inch of cold water, bring to a boil, turn down to a simmer for 8 minutes then turn the heat off. Drain, cold water, drain again, cover and swish around in the pan to crack the shells then cover with lukewarm water. Let sit a minute and peel. Never a problem at all. But Mr. Ferris's method looks like one I'll have to try! ;)

Welcome back.

nitrofish420 said...


I've tried the method you show for hard boiled eggs. I've tried varying the time slightly, using older eggs, etc, etc. It just DOES. NOT. WORK. It cooks the egg just fine, but it's impossible to peel. Maybe it's my water, elevation, local eggs, or some variable, but I've ruined literally dozens and dozens of eggs trying this method. I have to let them boil for the 17 minutes, and they peel like butter.

Chef John said...

This method only covers cooking, not peeling! Having said that, use older eggs which peel easier.

Nath said...

I think the main reason the 17 minute method works great for some people and not for others is that people have different-sized pans. A larger pan takes longer to come to temperature and longer to cool off. If you use this method with a small pan, the eggs may not cook enough.

There are many other factors -- altitude, water temperate, pan shape and material, stove type -- but my guess is pan volume trumps all of them. If this method doesn't work, maybe try it with a different-sized pan.

Erin S. said...

My favorite method for hard cooking eggs... my pressure cooker. Put the eggs in a rack or steamer basket in the bottom, add about 2 cups of water (mine is a 16 quart size intended for pressure canning, a smaller one would only need a cup or so of water). Do the usual steps for getting it up to pressure, cook for 6 minutes at 5lbs of pressure. Take off the heat, let it cool naturally until the pressure is dissipated and it's safe to open it. Chill the eggs and you're good.

The best part and the reason I use the pressure cooker instead of Chef John's method (which also works for me) is that the eggs practically jump out of their shells, they're just so easy to peel.

Skyjackie737 said...

These...like everything else you create, looks absolutely fantastic. Roasting your rib roast (method X)as i type! Cant wait to try these! Merry Christmas!

Unknown said...

I give up, Chef John. I have tried your method multiple times, following it to the letter each time, and every time, every egg (usually four or six in the batch) does not peel properly. Either large chunks of albumin come off with the peel, the whole egg just falls apart in my hands, or breaks in half when I crack it gently. I gave the pan the ol' shake-a shake-a and only two eggs cracked. I didn't want to do it further to risk breaking them, but today was the last straw. After so many attempts, I may just have to accept the fact that I am an EPIC FAIL when it comes to hard-boiled eggs.

Condo History said...

Chef,
One other thing might be a variable on your perfect egg method. Gas stove vs electric stove. When you turn gas off, it's off, my electric stove take a minute and a half to two minute to cool down, so I think my eggs were getting over cooked. So now I move the pot to a off burner and they come out perfectly.
Frank

Unknown said...

I got confused with the whole Old Bay/Young Bay thing and grabbed Old Spice by mistake...yuck. Smelled like grampa though.

Dano said...

Another great video Chef John! In all seriousness, would lobster work here? And if so, would you need to make any significant changes to the rest of the recipe

Lihsa said...

I made this for Christmas Eve's dinner. They came out fabulous!!!!!!

http://twistedtiaradesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/small-merry.jpg

Olivia said...

These look so delicious! Will have to try and make some for New Year's. Thanks for sharing!

dLip26 said...

John love the show but the eggs method doesn't work every time the peel is impossible even with old eggs. I think that a) boiling for 15 min after boil starts produces a much better result and b) what ever pot you are using must be thicker and retain heat better allowing the white to cook more and separate from the shell.

Chef John said...

Then how do you explain it working for me every time? :)

BTW, once again, this is a method for achieving a proper doneness, NOT a trick for easy peeling! There are many variables involved in that which I can't account for!

Grape said...

~ I'm so happy to see you back that I think I'm seeing things! I counted at least three smiling yolk faces (one covered in Sriracha sauce) ... or do you get that every time- as further proof that your 17 minute method really does work? I mean, the yolks look happy, so they must be perfect! (Not that I need convincing. It works for me every time) ... Welcome back Chef John! You were dearly missed!

Unknown said...

The boiling technique didn't make them easier to peel for me either, but they were perfectly cooked. I hated hard-boiled eggs as a kid because the yolks were always dry, but mine came out almost creamy. When I boiled eggs that were a little older that almost wanted to stand on one end, they were no problem at all to peel.

Unknown said...

what size eggs do you use?

Chef John said...

Large! (Listed in ingredients)

Chef John said...

Yes, no matter what method you use, fresh eggs are always the hardest peel.

Jack Cen said...

Did you eat one of the seven eggs you started with? Love you, Chef John! :)

Unknown said...

I also still had trouble getting the shell off without destroying the egg. I started experimenting, and here's what I do: I put a tablespoon of olive oil in the pan with the water and eggs, use Chef John's method, run the eggs under cold water when done, crack and peel. This works for me, but don't ask me why.

JAGAJAK said...

I recently had Horseradish deviled eggs at a restaurant in LA called Tam O'Shanters....they were amazing... wondering if i could just sub the fresh grated horseradish for the crab in this one (Albeit less) to get that taste... gonna try it... These crab ones were a-maze-ing tho. Each year we have poached eggs over dungeness with cayenne brandy cream sauce for our Christmas breakfast meal and now i have something to do with the leftover crab each year! THANKS CHEF! Another hit! :)

philogaia said...

This method of turning off the eggs and letting them sit in the water only works at sea level, folks. It works fine for me at my place in Portland, Or but a disaster at my folks place in Albuquerque. CJ lives at sea level.

Unknown said...

FYI...the reason you stir the eggs while they boil is simple. I like to stir them every minute or so because in doing that, it leaves the yolk to set directly in the middle of the whites which makes for a very uniformed white:yolk ratio. Remembering what my Mother told me...it's all about the presentation!

Aerin-sol said...

Chef, the naysayers are obviously experiencing technical difficulties - 17 minutes hard boiled eggs works perfectly. I've been using this method since you debuted your first video on the subject, and have not once had suboptimal eggs as a result. Thanks for sharing the tip!

Anonymous said...

Hi Chef
This method produce a perfect cooked but hard to peel egg. I stopped using it after finding out the steam method which produce perfect cooked and always easy to peeled eggs. I steam it for 12 minutes using electrical steamer. The steamer start counting after the water boils hence I'm not sure if the 12 minutes will give the same results on stove top steamers.

Anonymous said...

Is there a certain type or brand of crab I should use?

Borsia said...

Hi Chef John;
My question is ,,, how do you get the yolks to stay centered in the eggs?
Seems like every time I go to make deviled eggs I end up with the yolks on one side or even one end.
Suggestions???
Thanks

love your videos