Elegant Red Pepper Egg Amuse Bouche

I love French - the language, the wine, the cheese, and the cuisine. And every spring, for some reason...my mind turns to flowers, sunshine, and something incredibly French. Yes - random; I know. I think it must be my sudden urge to leave the Indiana winters behind and escape to someplace truly warm and budding in March! This year when Easter arrived, I was so excited to try a new feast that I decided to focus on a small rack of lamb. I prepared the night before and had invited a few single friends for Easter dinner, rose early in the morning to start pre-church and right in the middle of drying my hair - wham! - the electricity went out. Brother - nothing worse than a half-naked blonde with wet hair who is ........ well, you get the picture.

So I trotted down to the great room and peered out to survey the neighborhood. I saw staring back at me - 12 pairs of eyeballs lined up staring out of 8 sliding glass doors - we all began to laugh at each other as we realized that the neighborhood was sans-electricity and we were peeping at each other! Ok - plan B. With wavy blonde hair I met up with my friends for an expensive brunch - and it wasn't at my townhome. The end result was that I had 24 hardboiled eggs (a now frozen rack of lamb) and lots of happy Easter Sunday restaurant memories. So this Sunday after, I decided to make a very elegant brunch with my 24 eggs. The egg hors d'oeuvres turned out beautifully as a beginning to what was a multi-course French Brunch (do they have those?) ~ complete with beautiful pink roses. All I was missing was the maitre'd :) ....note to self: Find a new boyfriend!

In celebration of my new "leftover Easter Egg Salad Dish" - I decided to give it a new french name (I'll make Easter Egg Salad unique if it kills me...)

So here you have it: Red Pepper Egg Amuse Bouche ~

12 Hardboiled eggs, shelled and chopped into large pieces

4-6 Tbsp. Hellman's Mayonnaise, light

1-2 Sweet Red Pepper, chopped into large chunky pieces

1-2 Celery Stalks, chopped in half lengthwise and cut

crosswise in 1/4" pieces

1 tsp. McCormick's Grill Mates, Lemon Pepper w/Herbs

1/2 tsp. Dill, dried

Salt, to taste

Wasa Sesame Crackers

Smoked Salmon Slices & Capers

Combine eggs and Mayonnaise gently mixing so that the mayonnaise combines with the egg yolks and large chunks of egg remain. Sprinkle seasonings over the top and gently mix into the egg mixture. Finally, add the sweet red pepper and celery and blend. Adjust seasonings to desired taste effect. I prefer 2/3rd's sweet pepper and 1/3 celery pieces in this salad.

In case you have a burning desire to know what amuse bouche means - it is french for a tiny bite sized morsel that is served at the beginning of a large french meal and literally translated means mouth amuser. I think it did just that. It was a spring-like, tasty alternative to the otherwise bland Easter egg salad that seems to keep popping up in everyone's kitchens the week after the bunny holiday. For ease of eating and a more beautiful presentation, I actually spread it out on the Wasa Sesame crackers and then cut them into 4 rectangular pieces which was much more successful than the original "sandwich" idea shown in my photograph. Smoked salmon added to the plate with a few small capers made the first dish of the brunch quite enticing. Vive la France! - Now where can I find a maitre'd for the day?