Egg Salad with Castelvetrano Olives

By Bevi • August 6, 2012 • 2 Comments

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Author Notes: Back in the day before I was tall enough so that my parents could set me on a milk crate to dive in the ice cream coffin freezer to scoop cones for our hotel guests, they would send me to my Vermont relatives for two weeks of a Green Mountain State summer. My Aunt Alta would organize trips to Peacham Pond, putting together a great picnic lunch we could have on the little sandy beach. She made an egg salad with olives that I simply adored. Her version was simple - eggs, mayonnaise, and black olives from the can. This is a paean to her delicious yet simple salad. - Bevi

Makes enough egg salad for 2 hefty sandwiches, or 12 akmak crackers

4 hard boiled eggs
1/2 cup chopped Castelvetrano olives (see chopping tips below in Step 1)
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon olive juice
1/4 teaspoon Sriracha
optional paprika or cayenne pepper

Chop the olives into "fourth fingernail" sized bits. I slice the olive meat lengthwise 4 times around the pit, and then slice off the meat from the top and bottom of the pit. Then I cut the lengthwise olive meats in half. Set aside.
Mash the eggs with a fork in a glass bowl. Add the olives.
Mix together the mayonnaise, mustard, olive juice, and Sriracha. Add to the eggs and olives and mix thoroughly. Make sandwiches, or top on a great cracker - as stated I like Akmaks. Dust with paprika or cayenne pepper if you choose.