Mayo and other foods made at home!

Mayonnaise... from scratch!

Mayonnaise, to me, has always been a weird condiment. What is this strange matter that people spread on sandwiches, use for making a dressing for coleslaw and potato salad, and often put too much on for my liking? I've heard of recipes claiming that you can make homemade mayonnaise, but I had never taken the time to really look at the ingredients of what goes into mayonnaise. I don't know why, but it always seemed like a strange food; sort of like a non-food. And then there's the Mayonnaise vs. Miracle Whip debate, which I won't go into here.

   Growing up in my family, my mother used Miracle Whip. I found it to be a bit too sweet for my tastes. Later in life, I decided to eat foods that hadn't been bastardized in some way, so I stuck to eating only mayonnaise and butter rather than any of there offshoots like Miracle Whip and margarine. I figured that the closer to its unprocessed, or natural, state it was, probably the better for humans. Only later did I find out that margarine is only one molecule away from being plastic and that margarine left unattended will not mold, mildew, attract bugs, or disintegrate. Glad I made that decision for myself early on in life.

   In this effort of learning to do more and more for myself and be less dependent on outside processing sources, I decided it was time to take a look at a mayonnaise recipe and do this for myself...

Mayonnaise Ingredients:

1 whole egg, at room temperature

1 egg yolk, at room temperature

1 teaspoon Dijon-type mustard

1 1/2 Tablespoons lemon juice

1 Tablespoon whey, optional

3/4—1 cup extra virgin olive oil or expeller-expressed sunflower oil or a combination

generous pinch of sea salt

I left the eggs out while I was out for the afternoon to get to room temperature. (They really only need about half an hour.) When I returned home I plunked the eggs in the blender first—one whole egg and one egg yolk separated from the white. Do you know how to separate the yolk from the white? I crack the egg shell in half and pour the yolk into one side of the shell letting the white run out of the shell. I pour the yolk back into the other half of the shell and more of the white will slide off the yolk. I do this back and forth a couple of times until the white has slid off the yolk into my container set below it to catch the white. (You can use the white in an omelette or other dish where you may need more whites like meringue, so you don't waste any.)

Then I added the Dijon-type mustard. I happened to have a little Spicy Brown mustard in my fridge so I used that.

For the lemon juice, I used concentrated lemon juice since I didn't have a fresh lemon laying around.

And the extra virgin olive oil. I used what I had on hand, but I forgot to take a snapshot of it. I'm pretty sure you've all seen extra virgin olive oil before though.

Here's my bag of sea salt that I purchased from the bulk food section of the health food store.

I processed the first four ingredients in my blender for about 30 seconds. The whey, which I didn't use, makes the mayonnaise keep longer (like up to 5 months). Without the whey, the mayonnaise will keep for two weeks in the fridge.

   Through the cap top that I removed, I poured the 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil into the blender—a bit at a time—while running the processor. It emulsified nicely; which reminds me of a vinegrette that I make using olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic, and spicy mustard. I added a generous pinch of sea salt, which I just happened to have in my spice section.

and then tasted it... yum! I mean... really yum! It was soooo good. I could use it as a vegetable dip all by itself without having to add anything else to it! Why didn't I know how good homemade mayonnaise tasted before?! Why hadn't any of my friends ever made homemade mayonnaise? Oh yeah, because in this culture, people hardly cook anymore let alone make their condiments from scratch. For example, when I go to a potluck, my American friends typically show up with bottled dressing for their salads; however, my Persian friends still make their dressing from scratch, fresh each time and the taste difference is significant. Personally, I've long ago converted to eating fresh dressing on my salads. Now, I'll consider making fresh mayonnaise when I need it because 1) it's so easy to do, and 2) the taste is phenomenal. So... give it a try. You won't regret it; and who knows, you may never go back!

I put the date on my homemade label so I don't get confused by my busyness and forget that it expires in two weeks if I haven't devoured it in the first week. When I make something new like this, I take the opportunity to allow those around me take a taste and decide if they want to introduce a new food into their life too. It's a beautiful opportunity.

Bon appetit!