Recipes for classic devilled eggs and crispy herbed roast chicken

Classic Devilled Eggs from "At Home With Lynn Crawford: 200 of My Favourite Easy Recipes" by Lynn Crawford (Penguin Books, 2013), are pictured. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, Kathleen Finlay

December 25, 2013 - 7:45 AM

Here are two recipes culinary trend watchers suggest you try in 2014.

Classic Devilled Eggs

6 large eggs, room temperature

50 ml (1/4 cup) mayonnaise

5 ml (1 tsp) Dijon mustard

Hot sauce, to taste

Salt and pepper, to taste

30 ml (2 tbsp) finely chopped chives

Paprika

Maldon sea salt

Fill a medium saucepan with cold water and bring to a boil over high heat. Gently add eggs and cook for 10 minutes.

Remove eggs from pan and place in a bowl of ice water. When cool enough to handle, peel eggs and pat dry with paper towels.

Halve eggs lengthwise and spoon yolks into a small bowl. Add mayonnaise and mustard and stir until smooth. Season with hot sauce, salt and pepper. Fill egg whites with yolk mixture, arrange on a platter and garnish with a sprinkling of chives, paprika and Maldon sea salt. Serve immediately.

Makes 12 halves.

Source: "At Home With Lynn Crawford: 200 of My Favourite Easy Recipes" by Lynn Crawford (Penguin Books, 2013).

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Crispy Roast Chicken

Trend watcher Christine Couvelier says this is one of her favourite recipes and always gets rave reviews. She says it's delicious with roasted garlic mashed potatoes, roasted asparagus and cherry tomatoes with sauteed spinach.

Ciabatta bread or focaccia bread (at least 2.5 cm/1 inch thick, and enough to cover a 30-cm/12-inch square)

60 ml to 90 ml (4 to 6 tbsp) olive oil, divided

Salt and pepper, to taste

1 chicken (1.8 to 2.2 kg/4 to 5 lb)

1 whole garlic head (rub off outside papery skin and slice in half horizontally through all the cloves)

1 lemon, cut in half

1 lime, cut in half

1/2 bunch fresh tarragon, coarsely chopped

1/2 bunch fresh thyme, coarsely chopped

Heat oven to 200 C (400 F).

Place bread slices in centre of a metal roasting pan. Drizzle 30 to 45 ml (2 to 3 tbsp) of the olive oil over bread and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Season cavity of chicken with salt and pepper. Stuff cavity with prepared garlic head, lemon, lime, tarragon and thyme.

Rub outside of chicken with remaining olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Place chicken, breast side up, on bread slices.

Roast chicken for 1 1/2 hours, until it is very brown and crispy and pan juices run clear when you cut between the leg and thigh. Internal temperature should be 74 C (165 F).

Remove from oven, cover with foil and let chicken rest for 10 to 15 minutes before carving.

Serve with slices of the fabulous bread from the pan.

Source: Christine Couvelier of Culinary Concierge, www.culinaryconcierge.ca.