Kicking Up Sandwiches with Emeril Lagasse + Egg Salad Supreme Recipe

 I’m getting serious about sandwiches today, cooking from Emeril Lagasse’s newest cookbook, “Emeril’s Kicked-Up Sandwiches” (Morrow, $24.99). I’m so very honored that A Cook and Her Books has been chosen by Morrow Cookbooks to participate in the #SeriousSandwich blogalong marking the publication of Emeril’s newest book.

Twenty-two other bloggers from all walks will cook from the book and write about their experiences over the next few weeks. Look for links to the stories by following #SeriousSandwich on Twitter, on the A Cook and Her Books' Facebook page and also on Morrow Cooks’ Facebook and Twitter pages.

To start the #SeriousSandwich blogalong off, I made Emeril’s Egg Salad Supreme, a sublime example of how a little bit of chef-ly know-how can knock an everyday sandwich filling out of the ballpark. Perfectly hard-boiled eggs are mixed with mayo (homemade if you’re the type to go to the trouble, and if you want to learn, Emeril will show you how in the book), shallot, green onion, celery, plus the addition of dry mustard and hot Hungarian paprika - and there's the bam, the kick-it-up-a-notch ingredients that make for a memorable sandwich.

The recipe headnote describes it as reminiscent of horseradish or wasabi – I like to put radishes in my egg salad, so I’m totally on board with the mustard and paprika combo.

 Egg Salad Supreme

Yield: 6 sandwiches, about 3 cups filling

Here’s a simple, delicious sandwich. The dry mustard and paprika give it a wonderful surprising wasabi-y or horseradish-y accent.

12 hard-boiled eggs*

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon dry mustard

1/2 teaspoon hot Hungarian paprika

¼ cup minced shallot

¼ cup chopped green onion or fresh parsley leaves

¼ cup minced celery

1/2 cup mayonnaise, homemade or store-bought

12 slices White Sandwich Bread (use Emeril's recipe in the book or your favorite white bread)

1. Roughly chop the eggs and place them in a mixing bowl. Add the salt, mustard, paprika, shallot, green onion, celery, and mayonnaise. Stir with a rubber spatula or a spoon until very well blended. Transfer to a container, cover, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 4 days.

2. Spread 1/4 to 1/2 cup of the egg salad between 2 slices of bread. Repeat with the remaining salad and bread.

*Here’s my favorite method for hard-boiling eggs:

 Start with a saucepan and insert a steamer basket (if you have it - this makes it easier to remove the eggs and also keeps them from bouncing around on the bottom of the pot). Place 6 eggs on opened basket, cover with cold water, bring to a rolling boil, cover and cook for less than a minute. Pull covered pan off the heat and turn kitchen timer to 13 minutes. Some folks say 12 minutes, some say 15. All I know is that mine were cooked perfectly at 13 minutes. Have an ice water bath nearby and plunge the cooked eggs into the cold water. When cool enough to handle, peel away the shells. Old eggs are easier to peel due to the air pocket, fresher eggs stubbornly hang on to their shells.


Emeril’s Kicked-Up Sandwiches (Morrow, $24.99)

Recipe reprinted with permission from Morrow Books.

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Images and non-recipe text copyright 2012, Lucy Mercer.

Images and non-recipe text copyright 2012, Lucy Mercer.