Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Mayonnaise



By Chicken One -
I LOVE making homemade mayonnaise! The first time was a few years ago using my food processor and it went perfectly.

But, as with most things that go wonderfully the first time around, we keep chasing that first, perfect result every time thereafter. And with mayo, it's a real roll of the dice.

I thought it was me; about a third of my attempts end in a mayo disaster. Runny, separated goop instead of a creamy emulsion. But turns out that's completely normal.

Fortunately, when I was showing Chicken Two how to make it (with no guarantees understood), I'm happy to say it turned out beautifully.


Making mayo in your kitchen is actually very easy. Break a few eggs and separate the yolks from the whites.

Put the yolks in a food processor with a little mustard, some vinegar or lemon juice and any herbs you want (or garlic) and pulse til smooth.

With the processor on low, drizzle in a VERY THIN stream of extra light olive or vegetable oil.
In a few minutes, ideally just as you finish drizzling the oil, the mixture suddenly emulsifies and you have beautiful, homemade mayo!
Now, about those disasters. If it fails, it fails. But it's still edible and you can make salad dressings out of it by adding herbs, spices and other goodies. But it's damn hard to rescue a broken mayonnaise.

Some websites recommend making a second recipe and, instead of more oil, drizzle in the broken mayo. I've tried this and other methods to the point of tearing out my hair and running screaming into traffic, all to no avail. I've never gotten it to work.

I WILL say that Chicken Two has a more reliable method over there on the right. It's worked for me more consistently than the food processor method.

Leave us a comment and tell us what YOUR results are!

By Chicken Two - 
I'm always looking for an easier way to do things and to shorten my time so I love this method!

This variation uses a stick blender and its container or a jar just wide enough for the stick blender to fit. A too-wide jar sets you up for failure. You can use a whisk instead, (like Julia!) but we haven't tried it…..yet.

So…are you ready? Just put everything in the container at once…you don't have to drizzle anything, just throw it all in and whip!



Now wasn't that easy????

The result is fresh, tasty mayo! You MUST refrigerate it and because it doesn't have any preservatives, it will only last 3 - 5 days. 

And because I know you're going to ask - yes, you can use any light oil or even a combo of oils. You can also use extra virgin olive oil, but your mayo will taste strongly of olive oil. We think lighter oils are better, especially with added herbs like rosemary, basil, garlic, fresh ground black pepper, etc. Try it your way and let us know how you like it!




Mayonnaise Recipe
Yield: 1 1/2 cups

Ingredients:
1 large egg  (or 2 for much thicker mayo)
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice (white wine vinegar can be substituted, if necessary)
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 1⁄4 cups canola oil


Use fresh, cold eggs for the best result.