I'm all about eggs this spring....

I don't get it, I was never much of an egg fan, but ever since I got on my poached egg kick, I'm eating them daily. Lindsay made Eggs Benedict this morning, they were soooooo good....

And then when I opened my weekly Splendid Table Newsletter, the following recipe just fascinated me. I should put this on Jan Can Cook, I'm lazy - posting it here - check this out, do you think it looks as good as I do?

~ jan

"Boring" will never again be paired with hard cooked eggs once you try this recipe. It's the best thing to happen to the deviled egg since the picnic. Talk about an ideal spring supper, this is it; and if you are feeling like a fancy dinner menu, serve this as a first course.

For even more tips and ideas, head to splendidtable.org and check out our brand new How to Eat Supper podcast, available for a limited time. You'll find much more practical hands-on advice to streamline your kitchen life, including basics like the easiest and foolproof way to boil an egg, the clues to look for when selecting salad greens and how to buy a pot, so don't miss out. Best of all it's free!

We're also excited about our new book, The Splendid Table's How to Eat Supper: Recipes, Stories, and Opinions from Public Radio's Award-Winning Food Show, a book Publisher's Weekly says "... should grace the shelves of even the most infrequent of cooks." You can buy a copy of your very own at splendidtable.org. Your purchase goes to support public radio.

Pan-Crisped Deviled Eggs on French Lettuces
Excerpted from The Splendid Table's How to Eat Supper: Recipes, Stories, and Opinions from Public Radio's Award-Winning Food Show by Lynne Rossetto Kasper and Sally Swift (Clarkson Potter, April 8, 2008). Copyright 2008 by Lynne Rossetto Kasper and Sally Swift

Serves 4 as a main dish; 6 as a first course

15 minutes prep time; 5 minutes stove time
The eggs could be stuffed a day ahead and refrigerated until you are ready to saute them.

Who would imagine browning deviled eggs to caramelize their edges and crisp their fillings: What a sensual turn with a hard-cooked egg.

We owe the idea to Jacques Pépin and his memoir, The Apprentice: My Life in the Kitchen (Houghton Mifflin, 2003). The inspiration comes from war-torn France and a recipe born of scarcity that Jacques' mother created during World War II, though you'd never know it when you pick up your fork.

This is the kind of double-edged story that we love to find in the things we eat.

Eggs:

• 8 large eggs, hard-cooked and peeled
• 1 scant teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 2 medium garlic cloves, minced
• 2-1/2 teaspoons minced onion
• 2-1/2 tight-packed tablespoons fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, coarse chopped
• 2 to 3 tablespoons milk
• 2-1/2 teaspoons mayonnaise
• 1-1/2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
• Salt and fresh-ground black pepper
• 2 to 3 tablespoons good-tasting extra-virgin olive oil

Dressing:

• The leftover egg stuffing
• 3 tablespoons good-tasting extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 generous teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 2-1/2 tablespoons milk
• 2-1/2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
• Salt and fresh-ground black pepper

Salad:

4 generous handfuls mixed greens, such as Bibb lettuce, mache, and dandelion greens or frisee, washed and dried

1. Cut the hard-cooked eggs in half lengthwise. Gently remove the yolks (fingers work best), and place them in a medium bowl. Reserve the whites.

2. Add the mustard, garlic, onion, parsley, milk, mayonnaise, and vinegar to the yolks. With a fork, crush everything together into a thick paste. Add salt and pepper to taste.

3. Pack the mixture back into the hollows of the egg whites, so the filling is even with the surface of the egg, not mounded. You will have leftover stuffing (this becomes the salad dressing).

4. In a large nonstick skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Gently place the eggs in the pan, stuffed side down. Cook until the eggs are beautifully browned, 3 to 5 minutes. Sprinkle them with salt and pepper as they cook.

5. As the eggs saute, combine in a large bowl the leftover egg stuffing with all the dressing ingredients. Add the salad greens to the bowl, and toss. Heap them on a serving platter.

6. Gently lift the eggs from the pan, turn them filling side up, set them on the greens, and serve.