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Deviled Eggs with Tomatoes
6 eggs. 1/2 teaspoon grated onion. 1 pt. tomatoes. 1 tablespoon butter. 1 teaspoon corn starch.
Cook tomatoes with onion, salt and pepper for a few minutes. Add butter and corn starch, cook five minutes longer. Beat eggs lightly, stir in tomatoes and serve on toast.
A soft egg-and-tomato scramble served on toast. The original leaves out the last step, which is the one that matters most.
- Finish the eggs over heatAs written the beaten eggs are stirred into the tomato and served, which leaves them barely warmed. Keep the pan on low heat and stir until the mixture thickens into soft curds and reaches 160F, about two to three minutes; it should mound on the spoon rather than run.
- A pint of tomatoesTwo cups, juice included. A 14.5 oz can of diced or crushed tomatoes is the closest match; if using fresh, peel and chop about 1 lb and expect to cook off more liquid.
- Cornstarch needs a slurryA teaspoon stirred straight into hot tomato will lump. Mix it with a tablespoon of cold water first, then stir it in and give it the full five minutes so the raw starch taste cooks out.
- Grated onionHalf a teaspoon means onion grated on a box grater to a pulp, juice and all, so it disappears into the sauce. A finely minced shallot works if you soften it in the butter first.
- Why "deviled"In this period deviled meant sharply peppered, not stuffed. The recipe gives only salt and pepper; a pinch of cayenne, a little dry mustard or a dash of Worcestershire brings it up to what the title promises.
- YieldServes three as a light lunch or four at breakfast, over four to six slices of toast. Butter the toast and pile the eggs on at the last moment, or it goes soggy.
Mrs. Wilson built her reputation during the First World War on stretching expensive protein with vegetables and starch, which is exactly what this dish does: six eggs, a pint of tomatoes and a slice of toast feeding three or four people. Eggs cooked in tomato belong to a wide family that includes Basque piperade and the Spanish and Italian versions of eggs poached or scrambled in sauce. The "deviled" of the title is the older English sense, generally traced to the early nineteenth century, meaning food made hot with pepper, mustard or cayenne rather than the halved hard-boiled egg the word now calls to mind.