Hard Cooked Eggs, Lemon (or Lime) Aioli and Dukkah

Directions

1. The Lemon or Lime Aioli
2. Mash the garlic with the salt to a paste using a mortar and pestle. Put the mashed garlic in a bowl wide enough easily to accommodate a large whisk.
3. Drop in the egg yolk, 2 teaspoons of the lemon or lime juice, and the water (and mustard, if using). Whisk vigorously.
4. Continue to whisk while adding a few drops of oil at a time. If you put a folded tea towel under your bowl, it will keep it from jumping around while both your hands are busy with this step.
5. Add single drops of oil at a steady rate as you continue to whisk. Once about 1/3 of the oil has been incorporated, and you’ve whisked a good long time (and the fragrant yellow stuff in front of you has gotten nice and thick), it’s okay to drizzle the oil at a faster rate - a slow, but light stream - as you continue whisking.
6. Keep this up until all of oil is incorporated, and the mixture is fairly thick. Test for salt and lemon or lime juice and add more, if necessary, to taste.
7. Refrigerate immediately and use within a few days, at most.
8. I hope you like this. Yours truly, AntoniaJames ;o)
9. N.B. I use the basic ratios described in Michael Ruhlman's "Ratio" for this aioli.

1. The Canapés, Deviled Eggs and Dukkah
2. TO MAKE THE CANAPES: Slice the eggs lengthwise. You should get three or four slices.
3. Then slice the baguette, cutting at an angle that will yield ovals about the size of your cooked egg slices.
4. Toast the slices of bread. While still warm, slather with aioli, then layer on a slice of hard cooked egg.
5. Gently spread on each egg slice another good dab of aioli.
6. Then, sprinkle generously with dukkah. (See steps 9-14, below.)
7. TO MAKE THE DEVILED EGGS: Slice the eggs in half lengthwise.
8. Remove the yolks, press them through a fine strainer, and mix with enough aioli to give it a consistency similar to that of a creamy mashed potato.
9. Fill the cavities in the egg whites first with a small pinch of dukkah and then with the yolk and aioli spread. Generously sprinkle more dukkah on top. (I spread the filling over as much of the surface of the egg white half as I can, so that I can get more dukkah on each piece.)
10. TO MAKE THE DUKKAH: Toast the sesame seeds in a small heavy skillet. Remove and partially crush using a mortar and pestle, just enough to release a bit of fragrance.
11. Finely chop the toasted pumpkin seeds (or hazelnuts). When using pumpkin seeds, I just pulse them two or three times in my electric spice mill, and don't worry about the few left whole.
12. Toast the cumin seeds and the coriander seeds, separately, in a small heavy skillet just until fragrant. Watch carefully, and remove immediately, lest they burn.
13. Crush the seeds using a mortar and pestle, or by pulsing an electric spice grinder. They should be coarse, and not fine.
14. Combine all of the ingredients in the mortar and pestle and pound lightly a few times. Give the blend a few final good stirs, to combine. It will smell divine.
15. Store any leftover dukkah in the refrigerater, tightly covered.
16. Enjoy!! ;o)
17. N.B. A more casual treat is simply to slather a bit of aioli on a piece of homemade sandwich or other bread, then cover with a layer of hard cooked eggs, then a few generous pinches of dukkah, and then another slice of bread. Voila! The tastiest egg sandwich you will have eaten in a long time.
18. The basic ingredient combination for the dukkah, and the brilliant suggestion to use it with hard cooked eggs, come from Arabella Boxer in “The Spice Book.” I’ve changed the ratios and substituted grains of paradise for peppercorns, and pumpkin seeds instead of nuts or garbanzos. If you don't have grains of paradise on your spice shelf, no worries - use peppercorns to taste.