Deviled eggs are divine

Why dye eggs when you can get such pretty natural ones from backyard chickens?
But OK, a lot of folks will have a surfeit of dyed eggs after this weekend. If you take care to not overcook them, those eggs can be made into a devilishly good dish. They're only a little labor-intensive, and the recipe is quite forgiving.

Put your eggs in a pot of water, bring the water to a boil, then move the pot off the heat and let it sit for 9 minutes. Have a bowl or sink of ice water ready to put the eggs in immediately. I used a pot with a pasta strainer so I could just lift out the whole thing and dunk it in the sink. The eggs should be fairly easy to peel then.

I gathered a few of the ingredients I thought I might use. My original plan was to make a couple of varieties, but I ran out of time and just did one big batch.
Pretty much the only thing you have to have is mayonnaise, plus some other flavor component such as mustard (jarred or powdered). Other possible ingredients:

chives dill parsley Worcestershire sauce sriracha tabasco horseradish pimientoes

sweet relish chopped shrimp caviar minced onions or shallots olives cayenne pepper paprika

This is far from a comprehensive list, but you get the idea.

I boiled and peeled the eggs Thursday night, then prepped them on Friday morning. Just slice the eggs lengthwise and pop the yolks out into a bowl. If you are doing some fancy food-styling, you might want to rinse the whites off, but I'm not that patient. (It also helps to adjust the white balance on your camera so your pictures don't come out blue.)

I ended up using mayonnaise, Worcestershire sauce, pimientoes, chives and shrimp (boil a handful of shrimp for a couple minutes, rinse in cold water and chop).
Mash the yolks with a fork and mix it all together. Start with just a little mayo and add more as needed. Taste for seasoning. The Worcestershire and pimientoes added enough saltiness for me.
You can spoon the filling into the whites or use a pastry bag. Another option: cookie press! It works great.
If you don't have a deviled-egg plate, a platter covered with parsley is attractive. You can garnish with parsley or a dusting of paprika. I tried little spears of chives, which looked kinda lame, but I was in a hurry to get up to Boulder to meet with my pals.
Also on the menu: French 75s.

It was a very good Friday.