Homemade Mayonnaise

It's been interesting keeping up daily Facebook posts on my fan page, The Swing, and trying to stay current here on my blog.  I tend to get wordy here because I have the space!  BUT a couple of days ago I wrote a post about coconut oil.  Within the past couple of years we have purchased coconut oil and coconut butter, both to which we (Mark and I) agreed that the trade off of taste was not worth the value....but now the dietary science seems to be rolling through the Reifkind household once again, but I'm not ready to get into all of the science of nutrition yet!  This post is about homemade mayonnaise!

Mayonnaise is categorized as a "sauce" or "dressing". A sauce or dressing has fat, acid, and something that emulsifies and/or thickens the two, like mustard, or egg....and to be honest I could be totally wrong about this!  I'm just a home cook looking to understand the methods and techniques of cooking and preparing foods!

I've been wanting to make my own mayonnaise for years now, after spending time with my best friend, and former professional Chef, Fawn Friday, who always makes her own mayonnaises and aioli's (garlic mayonnaise).  The only problem is that I don't particularly like mayonnaise enough to eat much of it!  So therefore I don't use a lot, and getting into the practice of making it so that it becomes effortless and efficient just doesn't happen often enough.  The only tricky part about it is that there is a particular technique which, if not adhered to, will make a sloppy broken up mess of a good amount of costly ingredients!  The best way to make sure that you don't mess it up is to practice!

You can find a TON of mayonnaise recipes online, but the technique is the same.  Start with egg, lemon (acid), mustard (emulsifier), salt and pepper.  Using a blender or food processor drizzle in oil (oils) a drop at a time so it all comes together, until you can start to "stream" the oil in as it is blending (or processing). It really about technique and not so much the measurement of ingredients.

Okay, so back to MY story of coconut oil mayonnaise!

I needed mayo because I was out!  Since I don't use that much it's been on my grocery list for about 1 week!  This afternoon, with all of the recent coconut oil usage in my house, I started to think that there must be a coconut oil version of mayonnaise.  Fat is fat, right?  Well, kind of, but mostly yes.

• 1 whole egg
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 tablespoon mustard
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 cup Virgin Coconut Oil (melted if solid)
• 1/2 cup virgin olive oil

Using a basic recipe I pulled out my blender and went to work.  Lucky me I have pastured eggs in the fridge and I had some good quality oils (both coconut and olive).  I only had stone ground mustard (not Dijon), but it's just cooking, right?  The key...the key, until you get enough practice, is that you start adding the oil as slowly as humanly possible for the first minute or two while your blender is on "low".  Then a steadier stream can be tolerated.

If you screw this part up, your sauce, your mayonaise will "break", never to come together again!  And it ain't pretty, or edible!  The chances of you throwing a good amount of $$ down the drain (literally) is pretty good!  lol

But at the end of the cooking day, the practice, successful or not, will be worth it!  Jus think about the possibilities!  Garlic mayo, fresh herb mayo, avocado mayo, bacon fat mayo....good God!  If you google flavored mayonnaises the sky is the limit!

Please google some recipes, try them and report back!  Or maybe it's something you already prepare?  Please share!  Me?  I'm a total convert!  Never, ever, store bought for me anymore!  Oh, and what a great excuse to use cute little jars!  And talk about a nice hostess gift!  I promise, if you invite me over I will bring you some!  lol

Here are some popular posts with more details about technique.

http://reluctantgourmet.com/cooking-techniques/more-specific-techniques/item/59-homemade-mayonnaise-recipe
http://fotocuisine.com/?p=980
http://www.realfoodkosher.com/homemade-mayonnaise-101/
http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/basic-mayonnaise-10000000663046/index.html