At last! One of the recipes I’ve been promising since the beginning is here! Homemade Mayonnaise!
First of all, we made it home! Hooray! Farewell New York, hello Nova Scotia! I was so ready. The trip went very well, considering, (You know how much I love flying.) Although weather reports of inclement hurricanes made me a little nervous the flight ended up being very quick and painless.
Just like this mayo. (See what I did there? Smoooooth)
It really does take only two minutes.
I’m going to warn you right now, this recipe does contain RAW EGGS. So please make sure you get them from a reliable place and that they’re stored in sanitary conditions.
Now Cristina, you say, why would I want to make something I can just buy at the store? Well, first of all, mayonnaise is LOADED with paprika, the sneakiest of nightshades. In the US, we use Hellman’s Original, and that seems to be okay for now. Back home in Canada, we use Vegannaise (which is, obviously, vegan, and SUPER delicious!) But my biggest beef with mayo is that it’s loaded with who knows what. It lasts forever. Three months, open in the fridge – you can’t tell me there’s not something weird going on there. Yay preservatives.
I’d rather make my own, thanks! This stuff will keep in the fridge for two weeks, AND will only take you two minutes!
(I am, of course, using my trusty magic bullet one last time before I head back into the world of larger blenders and mixers!)
Step One: Pour olive oil into blender. Add the egg and lemon juice and whatever flavourings you want.
*Quick note here, you want to use the lightest tasting olive oil you can find, or else it will just taste like olive oil and not like mayonnaise. You could do a half and half olive oil and vegetable oil if you prefer.*
Step Two: Press go. Let blend until it gets white and creamy, about 30 seconds.
Step Three: Stand back and marvel at your own kitchen prowess.
Unless something goes wrong… unfortunately mayonnaise can be a little finicky, and it ends up looking like this:
Blegh. That’s when you need to step back and do a little trouble-shooting. Most of the time, the issue is either the temperature of the ingredients, or the wrong ratio of eggs to acid to oil.
Even when I took the photos for this shoot, it refused to cooperate and I had to start over. Do not be discouraged! I’m pretty sure everyone who has tried to make mayo has run into this issue.
My solution is usually a) add another egg, or b) add a bit more lemon juice. Then you can slowly add your reject mixture to the emulsified one until it gets the hint and behaves. If you want to read more about troubleshooting your mayonnaise problems, I highly recommend How to Thicken Mayo by Kelly the Kitchen Kop.
Once it’s done though, you have a beautiful, delicious, white spread that will go on everything! Bread, in salad mixes, anything!
It will last two weeks in the fridge in an air-tight container. Quick, easy, and so much better than the stuff from the store!
- 3/4 cup light-tasting olive oil (Or palm oil, OR half olive oil, half vegetable oil)
- 1 egg (some people recommend room temperature, I have actually found that cold eggs work better)
- dash lemon or lime juice
- Optional Flavourings: sea salt , garlic, cumin, curry, whatever!
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Place all ingredients in a blender in the order written above.
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Blend for 30 seconds. You should see it begin to emulsify. (If it is not emulsifying, you can either add another egg, a little more lemon juice, or start over completely, adding this batch to the new batch slowly. This happens! Mayo can be finicky!)
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Done! Will keep in the fridge for 2 weeks in an air-tight container.
Please note that this recipes uses RAW eggs, so please make sure you trust their source.
Additionally, you want the lightest tasting olive oil you can find, or else it will just taste like olive oil and not like mayonnaise!
