Getting to Cooked
You don’t have to make mayonnaise from scratch, but it’s sort of a different substance than the jarred stuff, and I do try to make it when it’s a prominent feature of a dish, as in egg salad. I’m rather less fussy when I’m adding a spoonful of chipotle chile juice to make spicy mayo for a sandwich. For the record: I’m liking Mr. Kensington’s and the Ojai Cook’s jarred mayonnaises for when I don’t have time to make my own.
Time: 10 minutes (10 minutes active)
Makes 1¼ cups
¾ cup canola oil
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 egg yolk
1½ tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Fine sea salt to taste
1. If making the mayonnaise by hand, wet a thin dishcloth or cloth napkin and roll it into a thin tube. Form that tube into a small circle and place a medium bowl on top of it; this will keep the bowl from skittering around as you whisk.
2. In a spouted container such as a measuring cup, combine the oils. In a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolk, lemon juice, and mustard. Whisking continuously, add the oil to the egg yolk mixture, a few drops at a time. A figure-8 motion can help. Keep whisking and adding oil; you will first get a yellow liquid, but eventually the mixture will start to thicken. At this point, you can slightly increase the amount of oil poured in each addition, but make sure to thoroughly whisk it in before adding more. If at any point the emulsion seems to break, add 1 or 2 teaspoons of very hot water; it should help bring things together. If the emulsion completely breaks, the mixture will lose its structure. You can start again in a new bowl, with a fresh egg yolk and a squeeze of lemon, and pour the broken emulsion slowly into that, as above. The finished mayo will be a little more fluid than jarred. Add fine sea salt to taste.
3. The whole process is much quicker with an immersion blender (a regular blender works well, too, but you will need to make a larger batch). Place the egg yolk, mustard, and lemon juice in a pint-size jar and mix on high with the blender. Slowly drizzle in the oil while blending, making sure to move up and down to incorporate all the oil. Season to taste with fine sea salt.
Make aioli: If you want a stronger aioli taste, add a mashed garlic clove with the yolk at the beginning, use just a dab of mustard, and replace the canola oil with more olive oil. It will be trickier to emulsify, but delicious.