Thursday, April 1, 2010

Egg Salad Sandwiches...What Came First?

 
The Chicken or the egg? Or....what to do with all of those Easter Eggs!

Since it's very likely that birds evolved from dinosaurs, now what came first,  the dinosaur or the egg?  If you want to get into that kind of 'heady' stuff you can look here or here.  I'm just glad that we have chickens and eggs and I'll leave it at that!


I decided to dye some eggs for the Easter table using the same method I used last year -  which is putting bits of flowers and leaves on the hardboiled eggs, covering them with onion skins and then wrapping them carefully in nylon stocking, cheesecloth or muslin.  You can read the entire process in my post from last year. Flowers aren't very abundant in the garden just yet since Easter is early this year, but I do have some dwarf iris blooming (I added a small vase of them above), crocus and even some parsley growing in the garden.


The bits of blue in the colored eggs are from the iris petals.

So the next time you start wondering what came first, or what to do with all the dyed eggs left from Easter, make egg salad!  There is a great little local cafe in town called Beans and Barley that makes the best egg salad sandwiches.  A few years ago, the recipe was published in our newspaper and I've been making it this way ever since.  The celery seed gives it a wonderful flavor.


Served on a crusty slice of French bread with spinach...


...or, on the spinach leaves alone - it makes lunch-time, happy-time and that's no yoke!

Happy Easter!


Beans and Barley Egg Salad

Makes 6 Sandwiches

12 eggs
½ cup good quality mayonnaise (I use Hellmans Light)
½ teaspoon celery seed
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper

Cover eggs with water and bring to a boil.  Immediately turn off the heat and let pan sit, covered, for 20 minutes.

Pour off hot water and place eggs into an ice bath for 5-10 minutes (this really helps the egg shells come off easily!).  Peel eggs and place them in a large bowl.  Chop eggs with a pastry cutter and add remaining ingredients.  Taste and adjust seasonings.  I like lots of celery seed and pepper!

Serve on your favorite bread and enjoy!

35 comments:

  1. this is adorable love it and the lemon curd aebleshivers heaven!

    Have a blessed Easter

    Rebecca

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  2. You did a wonderful job! Fabulous pictures!
    And those dainty little eggies on spinach..so cute..
    I don't eat the yolks, so I make mine separate..I am a pain!

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  3. What a cute idea! Tons of people out there (not me, per se. But you know. People.) are going to have about five million leftover eggs...and THIS is definitely the solution.

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  4. You're getting punchy Susan!! (yoke, yoke)

    Love your cloche look and your dyed eggs... Egg salad has always been a favorite, will give yours a try!

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  5. My Mom always put celery seed or celery salt in our egg salad sandwiches when we were kids...I just put in chopped celery for the crunch, now.
    Love your hen sitting amidst the eggs, very cute.

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  6. That little chicken is ..soooo cute! I love her♥

    And egg salad is my fave:) Your eggs are as lovely as I remember them and sous la cloche? Even prettier~

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  7. I love egg salad- I'm planning on lots next week!
    xoxo pattie

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  8. This looks very good. Thanks for sharing.

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  9. I'm looking forward to egg salad next week...lots of it!

    Love your cloche, Susan, with the pretty eggs and little chicken.

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  10. What a sweet little hen :)

    YUM...I love egg salad and I am going to have to make some on baby spinach leaves :)

    Blessings!
    Gail

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  11. I love your beautiful eggs any way you fix them--scrambled or marbelized. The nest is so delicate and joyful. Happy Easter to you and your loved ones.

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  12. I love egg salad. I will try yours next time. Thanks for the recipe. love your painted eggs and the chicken...

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  13. ciao!! complimenti per il post...le foto e la ricetta sono super!! Anche mia figlia Linda ha detto che è bellissimo!! baci e buon week end!!! ciao ciao ciao!

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  14. I just love the color that onion skin dye leaves on the eyes... I want a room that color!! The cloche decorating is superb too... but of course... Happy Easter!

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  15. What a brilliant idea for dying your eggs, Susan! I even think it's something I could manage...being completely incompetent in the arts department! Althought I think I'll start with the onion skin and not the flower petals...
    They look so cute in their nest under glass with mommy watching over them!

    Happy Easter to your and your family!

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  16. oh my, how pretty everything is..
    simply Divine~!

    Sonny

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  17. What a gorgeous stand and cloche. I love the shape. Your basket with the eggs and the tiny vase with flowers is a stunning display. Love the cute little chicken too. Gorgeous cloche vignettes. Thanks so much for joining the party. Beautiful. Hugs, Marty

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  18. What a sweet cloche display and your eggs look great!
    be a sweetie and Happy Easter,
    Shelia ;)

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  19. How pretty! I really like egg salad, but don't eat it often because of the cholesterol.

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  20. Hi, your egg dyeing techniques sounds wonderful, they look almost like marble eggs! And the egg salad sounds heavenly.
    Have a wonderful Easter Weekend.
    Debra

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  21. Love how you decorated your dome. Your egg salad looks yummy!...Christine

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  22. Your egg salad looks wonderful and the spinach as a compliment is perfect. A good egg salad can just hit the spot anytime of year.

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  23. This is really cute, brought a smile to my face! Egg salad sounds delicious!

    Happy Easter!

    Katherine

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  24. I used to live in Milwaukee and Beans & Barley was my favorite spot for breakfast and quick lunches. This brought back memories. I will definetly make the egg salad. Thanks for the recipe!

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  25. Susan, I love egg salad... yours looks so good. All the pics are sweet!

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  26. Excuse my ignorance please, maybe I didn't understand what you meant, but where are the beans and barley in that egg salad recipe? o.O

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  27. Egg salad is one of our favorites and my husband has it often for lunch! Next time I'm adding some celery salt!

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  28. Pretty eggs, the decorating ones and the eating ones :)

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  29. what a fun post - I love the naturally colored eggs and the cloche and the little spinach cups of egg salad :)

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  30. That photo of the spinach leaves filled with the salad is one of the most gorgeous food pics I've seen!

    I love egg salad...my Mom always put some celery seed in hers too. I think I need to make some this weekend now. You've got me craving it!

    Again, love your photography!

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  31. I know that this is an old post, but I really wanted to drop by and tell you that your presentation on the spinach leaves is great--so cleaver!

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  32. My kiddos don't like the texture of celery bits so I've used celery seed for years now. Gosh, I make my hb eggs and chop them with a pastry blender too - have you been spying on me??? :)

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    1. Or have you been spying on me :) I just made some egg salad this week. Love the celery seed!

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  33. I love the way you tinted the eggs....so soft and natural. The cloche is charming, too. LOVE egg salad, by the way. Great idea to use little spinach leaves to eat it :)
    shawn

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