Making Mayo From Scratch: It’s Easy and Delicious!

By: Karen Phillips | July 16 2010
Posted in Rogue Valley - Cook It - Rogue Valley

Summer is in full swing here in Southern Oregon. Time to head out for a picnic!

One of the very best things about picnic season is that it elevates simple dishes like tuna salad, coleslaw or even a modest sandwich, to a fine art. This is no place to skimp on ingredients for your al fresco feast. You’ve found some sustainably caught albacore tuna from Port Orford Sustainable Seafood for your tuna salad; cabbage and carrots from the local growers market for your mother’s special cole slaw recipe; crusty fresh-baked bread, a tasty local cheese and garden-fresh vegetables for sandwiches.

Photo: Flickr

And for the ingredient that will complete these dishes, you’re using… store-bought mayonnaise? Seriously?

It’s true, making mayonnaise from scratch has gotten a bit of a daunting reputation. But with a food processor and just two basic rules, you’ll find that making mayonnaise from scratch is astoundingly simple. And the finished product tastes so much better that the stuff you scrape out of a jar.

The two rules? Make sure all of your ingredients are at room temperature before you start, and add about a ½ tsp of water to the egg mixture before you begin adding your oil, to help keep the ingredients from separating out. That’s it. The rest, as they say, is easy peasy.

This basic mayonnaise recipe, from Judith Jones’s The Pleasures of Cooking for One has just six ingredients, takes about five minutes to make, and will make about one cup of delicious homemade mayonnaise. What could be simpler?

Photo: Karen Phillips

Ingredients:

1 large egg

½ tsp. Dijon mustard

Juice from ½ lemon

Salt

About ½ tsp. water

About ¾ cup light extra-virgin olive oil

Put the egg, mustard, water, a few drops of lemon juice and a pinch of salt in the food processor and mix for just long enough to blend well (maybe 1 minute). With the machine going, pour the olive oil in slowly – a few drops at a time to begin with, and then in a steady stream. When the mayonnaise has thickened and you have used up almost all the oil, taste and adjust. You’ll probably need a bit more lemon juice and salt. If the sauce isn’t quite thick enough, blend in a bit more olive oil.

Photo: Karen Phillips

And voila! A dressing worthy of the stellar ingredients you’ve assembled. The mayonnaise will keep for about a week – assuming you don’t use it all up before then. Once you’ve built your confidence with this basic mayo recipe, you’ll likely want to try a few variations like herbed mayonnaise or aioli with capers. Because really, doesn’t your picnic deserve the best?

Photo: Karen Phillips

What’s your favorite mayonnaise variation?