deviled eggs -J. Alexander’s copycat

By grammadot

Ingredients

• 6 large eggs, hard-boiled and peeled
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon pickle relish juice
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pickle relish Kosher salt and fresh-ground black pepper, to taste
• 4 slices candied bacon, (See recipe)
• 1 Paprika, for garnish, optional

Preparation

Step 1

Cut boiled eggs in half. Remove the yolks and put in a sieve placed over a medium bowl. Using the back of a spoon, push yolks through sieve. Add mayonnaise, mustard, pickle juice and relish. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Stir until combined. Alternatively, process in a food processor fitted with a blade attachment until smooth.
2 Spoon yolk mixture back into egg whites or use a pastry bag or resealable plastic bag and pipe yolks into whites.
3 Chop bacon and sprinkle over eggs.
Makes 12 egg servings (1/2 egg - 1 serving)

Candied Bacon

12 slices bacon, about 1/4-inch thick
Finely ground black pepper
11/3 cup light-brown sugar
Heat oven to 325 degrees F. Put bacon slices in a bowl, season them with pepper and toss with the brown sugar. Cover a baking sheet with parchment or foil, and arrange the bacon in a single layer on top. Sprinkle any sugar left in the bowl over the bacon. Top with another layer of parchment or foil and top it, squarely, with another baking sheet. The baking sheet will flatten the bacon as it cooks.
2 Place the tray in the center of the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Check the bacon by lifting the top tray and parchment. If it is not golden brown and fairly crispy, resist the temptation to turn up the oven temperature, and cook it for 10 to 15 minutes longer. Check it again. Keep in mind that when you remove the tray and transfer the bacon to a serving platter or individual plates, the bacon will “crisp” up a little more.
Makes 12 slices