A Dill-icious Discovery - Egg Salad With Dill Pickle Mustard

I was given a great gift last Christmas. Every month, I get a box from “Explore Local” from Crate Joy filled with culinary products to try. Bear in mind, I use the term “culinary” pretty generously here. It’s a pleasant arrangement: someone else finds the interesting things, and I get to figure out what to eat with them.

Last month’s box included Pilsudski dill pickle mustard from Shillington, Pennsylvania. A bottle of mustard might not sound terribly exciting, but I love pickles and their juice and would put them on everything. Even in a dirty martini!

Egg salad is one of those foods I tend to make without much thought. Boil some eggs, add a little of this and that, and lunch is ready. But a different mustard is enough to send a familiar recipe in a new direction without turning lunch into a project.

For this batch, I used the dill pickle mustard with just a tiny bit of mayonnaise, chopped red bell pepper and fresh basil. That was it. No lengthy ingredient list, no special equipment and very little to wash afterward. These are qualities I appreciate more with every passing year.

The mustard supplies the pickle flavor, so there’s no need to chop pickles or add a splash of brine. The red pepper brings a little sweetness and crunch. Fresh basil might seem like an unexpected choice alongside dill pickle mustard, but I liked the combination.

Pilsudski has a stand at the Shillington Farmers Market, where it sells mustards, pickles and deli salads. Apparently, I am not the only person who thinks mustard and a good deli salad belong together.

That’s what I enjoy about getting something unfamiliar in a monthly box. It gives me a reason to change a small habit. Sometimes that means trying a whole new dish. This time, it meant making egg salad a little differently, and frankly it perked up many sandwiches recently as well.

And now I have an open jar of dill pickle mustard and a few more lunches to consider.

Dill Pickle Mustard Egg Salad

INGREDIENTS

4 large hard-boiled eggs, peeled and chopped

1 tablespoon Pilsudski dill pickle mustard, plus more to taste

1–2 teaspoons mayonnaise

¼ cup finely chopped red bell pepper

1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Salt, if needed

METHOD

Mix the mustard and mayonnaise in a bowl. Gently fold in the chopped eggs, red pepper and basil.

Taste before adding salt, then season as needed with salt and black pepper. Add a little more mustard or mayonnaise if you like.

Serve on your favorite bread, spoon over sliced tomatoes or tuck into lettuce leaves. Makes two servings.