Creamy dilly egg salad

A traditional sauce for gravlax but really for anything, inspired by Zabar's

Good morning! Today I’m sharing one of my fixations from this past week that I truly want to eat on everything in sight! It’s a creamy dilly sauce, inspired by the one that Zabar’s serves with their gravlax. The pairing with eggs came about as a sort of happy accident and I felt like it needed to be shared with the world (aka my corner of the internet!).

A few weeks ago, I had some leftover from Zabar’s and added it to the shrimp salad that I was making. It was so insanely good that I couldn’t stop thinking about it since. So last week when I had leftover poached shrimp from my cocktail party, I wanted to recreate this salad. I researched the sauce in hopes of finding a way to make one that tastes just like Zabar’s but without having to go there every single time I was craving it. I learned that it’s a traditional mustard-dill sauce, called gravlaxsås in Swedish, that’s paired with gravlax. I used labneh instead of mayo because that’s what I had on hand and I think it makes it a little thicker and creamier. I also prefer the taste! With the leftover sauce, I made it into an egg salad for breakfast the next day and the rest is history.

This egg salad is unlike your classic mayo-based one. It’s sweet and tangy and little bit earthy. The white wine vinegar and honey lends this sweetness, the Dijon gives us the tang, and the dill adds this herby earthiness. While there is a lot of dill in this sauce, I promise you that even those who aren’t the most enthusiastic about this herb will still enjoy it. When the dill is blended with the rest of these ingredients, it’s not overpowering like it can be on it’s own. Trust me! After much trial and error, I have found that my preferred egg salad eggs are soft boiled with a jammy yolk. Aka 8 minute eggs. Egg salad always needs a crunch so to finish it all off, I added finely chopped watermelon radish and Persian cucumber rather than your classic celery and onion. I love the pop of pink from the watermelon radish!

I know there is an egg shortage but if you can find eggs at the store this week, I highly encourage you to make this for breakfast or lunch! It also keeps really well in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Creamy Dilly Egg Salad

Serves 2

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

2 tablespoons Dijon

1 tablespoon labneh

1 tablespoon honey

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup roughly chopped dill, plus more sprigs for garnish

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

4 large eggs

1/2 watermelon radish, finely chopped

1 Persian cucumber, finely chopped

2 tablespoons finely chopped chives

2 thick slices of bread, toasted or pan-fried

High quality olive oil, to finish

1. In a food processor, add the white wine vinegar, Dijon, labneh, and honey and blend until smooth. With the motor running, slowly drizzle in the olive oil until emulsified and creamy.

2. Add the dill and blend until the mixture turns green, the dill is in small bits, and its evenly dispersed throughout the sauce. Season to taste with salt and black pepper.

3. Make an ice bath by filling a medium bowl with ice and water.

4. Fill a small pot with water and bring to a boil over high heat. Carefully, add the eggs and simmer on medium-high heat for 8 minutes for the jammy yolk.

5. Immediately, transfer the eggs to the ice bath, making sure they are submerged in the water. Allow to cool completely for 5 to 10 minutes.

6. Peel the eggs and roughly chop into about 1/2-inch pieces. In a medium bowl, add the eggs and then fold in as much of the dilly sauce to coat. Add the radish, cucumber, and chives and mix. Season to taste with salt and black pepper.

7. To serve, evenly divide and spoon the egg salad over the toast. Garnish with dill sprigs, a drizzle of high-quality olive oil, a sprinkle of Maldon salt, and a few grinds of freshly ground black pepper.