photo by Jennifer May
makes 12 pickled eggs
1 medium beet
1 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. black peppercorns
5 small dried red chiles
1 3-inch cinnamon stick
1 tsp. coriander seeds
fine sea salt and freshly
ground black pepper
12 eggs, preferably farm-fresh
2 Tbsp. yellow mustard seeds
1 egg yolk
1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 cup canola oil
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 Tbsp. honey
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
Wash the beet, trim the ends, and slice it into ½-inch-thick rounds. Pour 3 cups water into a saucepan and add the beets, vinegar, sugar, peppercorns, chiles, cinnamon stick, coriander seeds, and ¾ teaspoon salt. Bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Then remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature. Pour the pickling liquid into a large storage container and chill it in the refrigerator.
Set the eggs in a 2-quart saucepan and add enough water to cover by 1 inch. Bring the water to a gentle simmer, boil for 1 minute, remove from the heat, and leave the eggs in the water for 8 minutes. Drain the eggs, crack the shells against the side of the pan, and cover them with fresh cold water. Peel the eggs underwater and add them to the cold pickling liquid. Let steep in the pickling liquid in the refrigerator overnight or up to 7 days.
For the mayonnaise, pulverize the yellow mustard seeds in a spice-devoted coffee grinder until fine but not powdered. In a food processor, combine the egg yolk, lemon juice, and 1 tablespoon water, and buzz to combine. With the machine running, add the canola oil drop by drop until an emulsion forms; then add the rest of the canola oil and the olive oil in a very thin stream. Season with 4 teaspoons of the ground mustard seeds, the honey, the Dijon mustard, and salt and pepper to taste.
To serve the pickled eggs, blot them dry on paper towels, cut each one in half, and set on a platter (a deviled egg platter if you have one). Drop a small spoonful of honey-mustard mayonnaise over the yolk of each egg, and sprinkle generously with the remaining hot mustard dust.
Recipe reprinted from The New Midwestern Table: 200 Heartland Recipes. Copyright © 2013 by Amy Thielen. Published by Clarkson Potter/Publishers, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC.
