The Serendipity of Mayonnaise

She wanted an egg, without the yolk, my youngest daughter was being specific and stubborn.  I just wanted her to eat some protein. I gave in, and separated the yolk from the white.  The white was fried up and served, but what to do with the yolk?  Mayonnaise.

Mayonnaise is either a condiment that you hate, or just kinda use.  Most mayonnaise is bland and acts as a moistening agent for otherwise dry sandwiches.  I have always been a big fan of mayonnaise on sandwiches, but I gave up buying mayonnaise quite a few years ago because I didn't care for the ingredients, the cost, or that fact that it didn't get used all that often, so it just sat in the fridge. 

Over the years I have tried my hand at making mayonnaise.  A whisk in the one hand beating furiously at the egg yolk and the measuring cup of oil pouring a subtle stream into the bowl with the other.  Normally too much work for something that was going to go bad within a few days according to the recipes.

I was stuck with what to do with this solitary egg yolk.  Another attempt at mayonnaise was the end result.  This time I used my mini prep, a scaled down version of a food processor.  Why hadn't I used the mini prep before? Because I neglected to see the holes in the top used for the oil..

Into the bowl went the egg yolk, a pinch of salt and a squeeze of lemon juice.  I closed the lid and started blending while pouring a oil into the top of the unit for it to drizzle into the emulsion below. I didn't measure my oil, most recipes say 1 cup oil to 1 egg yolk.  I know I didn't use a full cup, it was the end of the bottle.  I finished it off with a bit of wine vinegar and then put it in the fridge to meld.  It is exactly what mayonnaise should be: simple, subtle, and tasty.

Mayonnaise
1 egg yolk
dash of salt
squeeze of lemon
1/2-1 cup oil (I used EV Olive)
wine vinegar to taste

It is your mayonnaise so use the flavor components to taste, even the oil in my opinion.  The main point behind mayonnaise is to create an emulsion with the yolk and oil, which means combining them steadily and slowly.  The mini prep, or food processor, is an easy and consistent way to do this, though you can do it with a whisk.

Give it a try and let me know how it turned out.

Thanks for reading,
Sarah

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