Deviled Egg Chicks

MAKE HARD-BOILED EGGS

1. Place the eggs in a medium saucepan and fill with enough cool water to cover the eggs one inch over the eggs. Bring the eggs to a boil and cook for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and let the eggs sit in the hot water for 13 minutes.
2. While the eggs are "cooking" in the hot water, fill a large bowl with water and ice. After the eggs are done cooking, transfer the hard boiled eggs to the ice bath for 13 minutes. This will stop the cooking process, chill the eggs and prevent the standard "green ring" around the yolks.

VAN DYKE THE EGGS

1. Gently tap the eggs on the counter to break the shells. Peel the eggs and rinse any stray shell away.
2. Instead of slicing the egg in half vertically like you would for normal deviled eggs, hold the egg upright and use the tip of a sharp paring knife to make small cuts in the white in a zig zag fashion around the middle of the egg. Insert the knife tip at a 45° angle, then turn it 90° in the opposite direction.
3. Only insert the egg until you hit the hard boiled yolk (you'll be able to feel it). It can be hard to see the cuts in the egg, so to get an idea of where your cuts are, gently press and pull the two halves of the egg to reveal the cuts so you can continue.
4. Continue to cut the eggs until they've been completely cut, then gently pull the two halves apart. Transfer the yolks to a mini food processor and transfer the cut whites to a platter.
5. The van dyked egg halves may not stand up on their own, so if they seem to wobble (like a weeble ), make a small, flat cut to the bottom of the egg halves so that they stand upright.
6. Add mayonnaise, dijon mustard, lemon juice, white wine vinegar, hot sauce, kosher salt and pepper to the egg yolks. Pulse until the filling is smooth.
7. Transfer the deviled egg filling to a pastry bag fitted with a large round tip (or spoon the filling into the egg) so that the filling peeks over the top of the egg whites.

DECORATE THE "CHICKS"

1. Carefully place two black sesame seed eyes onto the deviled egg.
2. Insert two triangles of carrots so that the pointy end sticks out and forms a "beak".
3. Garnish with a bit of fresh dill for "hair".
4. Note, if you run out of filling for eggs, you can use excess van dyke eggs to give a few chicks a freshly hatched look by topping the chick with the other half.