Use a light-tasting oil; oils such as extra-virgin olive or peanut have too strong a flavor for mayonnaise. I think the some of the best oils to use are grape seed oil, light-flavored olive oil (this kind of olive oil is usually labelled as "light tasting", "pure", or pomace), sunflower oil and safflower oil, but any neutral or light-flavored vegetable oil will do in a pinch.
You may use all lemon juice, all wine wine vinegar, or any combination of the two; it's a matter of taste. I prefer a 50/50 mixture of both. If you're using vinegar, be sure to use wine vinegar, not cider or distilled white vinegar. I like to use Champagne vinegar, but even store brand white or red wine vinegar produces good results.
I've found that this recipe works best when all the ingredients are at room temperature, especially the eggs and oil. Before you crack the eggs, put them in a bowl of warm water for 5 minutes if they've just come out of the fridge. If, for some reason, you refrigerate your oil, let it warm up to room temperature before proceeding. You may not be able to create an emulsion if you use cold ingredients.
Frightened of raw eggs? Salmonella is very, very rare in good-quality eggs in the US, and the acid pH of mayonnaise, combined with its low water activity, makes it a fairly undesirable environment for pathogens as long as it's kept refrigerated. Try not to worry about it… If you are, however, still worried about it, don't bother making this recipe.
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Mayonnaise
Ingredients Needed:
- 1 whole egg
- 2 egg yolks
- 1.5 teaspoons Dijon-type mustard
- 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice and/or wine vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- freshly-ground black pepper
- 1.5 to 2 cups light-tasting oil
Equipment Needed:
- a food processor with at least 3 cup capacity
Place the whole egg and the egg yolks in the food processor with the Dijon-type mustard. Run the machine for 30 seconds.
Add the salt and the 2 teaspoons acidic liquid. Run the machine for 15 seconds.
Turn the machine on again, then begin slowly pouring the oil into the mixture. You should pour the oil continuously and very slowly, so that the stream of oil entering the spout of the machine is no thicker than a strand of spaghetti.
Keep adding oil into the running food processor until the mayonnaise reaches your desired consistency. More oil means a thicker and whiter mayonnaise. Less oil means a thinner, stronger-flavored and yellower mayonnaise. Do not add more than 2 cups of oil; exceeding the ratio of two cups of oil to one egg plus two yolks will cause the emulsion to break down.
Stop the machine when you've added enough oil. Add the freshly-ground black pepper (purists call for white pepper but unless you've got a stellar white pepper, stick with black pepper: it tastes better). Run the food processor again to mix, then taste the mayonnaise and correct the seasoning. You may wish to add a tiny bit more salt, pepper, lemon juice/vinegar, or mustard, depending upon your predilections.
Store the mayonnaise in an airtight container under refrigeration at all times. You may need to stir the mayonnaise a bit each time you serve it. The mayonnaise will keep about 4 days. This recipe yields about 2-2.5 cups of sauce.
This mayonnaise is delicious on or in just about anything. Try some with a steamed lobster, or with the Tomato Summer Pudding I wrote about here.
19 comments:
When we lived in India I made my own mayonnaise. Thanks for reminding me how good it was.
And no, we never got salmonella from it, as we practiced good food handling as a matter of daily life or dysentary.
;-)
The only times in my life that I have ever become ill from food-borne pathogens were from restaurant food.
Raw beef, raw fish, pork cooked to 145ยบ F, runny eggs, raw eggs, rare duck — cooked and eaten at home for many of my 38 years without any illness at all.
I use a lot of grape seed oil. It is excellent for frying (it has a smoke point similar to peanut oil) or if you need a neutral oil. It is also very healthy (canola oil, not so much).
But you really want good eggs for your own mayonnaise. Farm fresh, especially eggs from chickens that are fed fresh food (greens, melons, fruit, etc.) as opposed to feed grain all the time. It is amazing how much better those eggs are.
Palladian, you had to mention raw beef?
I am a bit hesitant about fish raw (sashimi) at home unless I really trust the fish monger or I caught it myself (the later being no hesitation at all). But fish should never be over cooked, it ruins it. Err on the side of medium rare, at most with cooking fish.
I am a huge fan of ceviche.
Overcooked eggs are not worth eating, so why bother. Eggs should always be a bit raw.
I use a lot of grape seed oil. It is excellent for frying (it has a smoke point similar to peanut oil) or if you need a neutral oil. It is also very healthy (canola oil, not so much).
I love grape seed oil, and after years of testing various oils, I think it's actually the best oil for mayonnaise. When I lived in NYC, I could get it very cheaply at Trader Joe's. Living in various places over the summer, I've noticed that it's often expensive in rural and suburban supermarkets.
But you really want good eggs for your own mayonnaise. Farm fresh, especially eggs from chickens that are fed fresh food (greens, melons, fruit, etc.) as opposed to feed grain all the time. It is amazing how much better those eggs are.
Absolutely. Mayonnaise is an egg sauce, so the eggs should be the star of the show. I was very lucky over the summer to stay in a place that had its own chickens, fed with food and corn grown on the property. They laid the most delicious eggs. Good store-bought eggs are fine and delicious (I am an egg fanatic) but if you have access to farm-fresh eggs, they're delectable.
Amazing.
A-mayonnaise-ing
Mayonnaise is one of the things that makes our life on earth worth every hardship.
Some would say yellow satin.
The Blonde prefers Miracle Whip.
Sad to say, she doesn't know what good is.
Mmmmm...sounds delish...and easy! Will try someday.
Ed, some things like turkey sandwiches and egg sandwiches and tomato sandwiches are for Miracle Whip, some things like tuna sandwiches and roast beef sandwiches are for mayonnaise.
I don't know why but I've never gotten over my childhood hatred of mayonnaise, I have learned to appreciate aoilis, and have developed a "don't ask, don't tell" policy with regard to dips and sauces that appear to contain small amounts of mayo. Maybe a good homemade mayo is the next step in my rehabilitation.
My brother used to eat peanut butter, jelly, and mayonnaise sandwiches when he was a teenager.
Lots of mayonnaise, as I recall.
Yuck.
But I like mayo. (Never a Miracle Whip person. The name went along with Wonder Bread, as far as I was concerned.)
Yet even more evidence that I had been giving whatsername far too much credit was way back when she tried to make a big deal out of commenters paying her money to see her eat an egg salad sandwich.
I am definitely going to try your recipe. I have made mayonnaise a couple of times and the trick, as best I remember, is to pour the oil very slowly. Your method really allows for that. I know of someone who used home-made bacon- infused mayo for deviled eggs. They were ridiculously good; I wish I had learned how she made the mayo.
I found grape seed oil inexpensively (relatively) at wholesale restaurant stores that also serve the public. Trader Joe's is fine, but the jar is small and expensive if you start doing the math on what a 3 liter container costs (it used to be $8, now with increased demand it runs around $18). Still worth it and it does not go bad provided you keep it away from heat and light.
When I was a kid, 1950s, I loved peanut butter, banana, and mayonnaise sandwiches—sometimes just pb and mayo when we were out of bananas. Later I learned that Elvis liked them. It's probably a Southern thing.
BTW, Morison’s cafeteria made their own mayonnaise. It was delicious on salads and veggies.
I taught my daughter the mayonnaise test to ascertain the marital status of men who courted her. All you have to do is put some mayonnaise in front of a guy. If he says, "Oh, mayonnaise," he is married, whatever the evidence of the ring finger. If he recoils in horror, gagging, he is a bachelor.
After nine years of marriage, I can briefly enter rooms containing mayonnaise if it is positioned under an operating fume hood.
The weird aversion to mayonnaise must be some sort of homosexual panic that some straight men experience because of a subconscious association between the appearance and texture of mayonnaise and that of semen.
Trust me, my mayonnaise is nothing like semen. If your semen resembles my mayonnaise, see a doctor right away.
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