Tarragon Egg Salad

Photo Courtesy of Brad Lovejoy

My aunts were driving to Seattle from Olympia to visit us for lunch today so I wanted to make something a little more interesting than a basic sandwich. I found this beautiful recipe for Tarragon Egg Salad on simplyrecipes.com and knew that it would be perfect for my informal family luncheon. I am a fan of traditional egg salad sandwiches that seem to include some variation of pickles, celery, dill, mayonnaise, mustard and onion. The ingredients in this recipe, although out of the box for egg salad, sounded like they would work well together.

Guess what? The sandwiches were tasty! I particularly enjoyed the crunch of fennel in the sandwich. My best friend, Natalie, turned me on to fennel about three years ago and I have never looked back. I like it in pasta, sauteed, stir-fried or even grilled on the barbecue. If fennel is not a staple in your kitchen, it should be considered. This recipe called for just the right amount of tarragon (from my garden), Dijon and cider vinegar. Cider vinegar can sometimes be used excessively, leaving an overwhelming flavor, but this recipe got it right. To boot, the eggs were boiled perfectly. I usually let my eggs boil for 10 minutes and then run them under cold water, but I found that this recipe's method made a better hard-boiled egg. This is officially my new way to hard-boil.

Lunch ended up being quite lovely. My aunts enjoyed the food and conversation was comforting in the way that only family conversation can be. The weather was divine today so we sat on the deck and enjoyed staring at the water while dining. I served the sandwiches on Macrina Bakery ciabatta buns (the same buns I use for my Hoisin Turkey sandwiches) with lettuce from my garden. Side dishes were watermelon, barbecue flavored Kettle Chips and sun tea. Ahhhh..........good stuff all the way around.

Ingredients:

10-12 hard boiled eggs, peeled and chopped

1/3 cup mayonnaise

2 tsp Dijon mustard

1/2 cup chopped fennel (about 1/2 large bulb)

1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper

1/2 cup chopped green onion, including greens

1/4 cup packed chopped fresh tarragon leaves

2 tsp cider vinegar

salt and pepper to taste

Photo Courtesy of Brad Lovejoy

To hard boil eggs, put eggs in large pot and cover with two inches water. Bring to boil. Turn off heat. Cover and let sit for 12 minutes. Drain, run under cold water to stop cooking and to cool down eggs. Chop and prepare all ingredients.

Gently combine all ingredients. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve alone, over lettuce, on toast or on bread for sandwich. Serves 4 to 6.

Recipe Source:

simplyrecipes.com