Homemade Mayonnaise

Sarah and I have been talking about doing homemade mayo for what feels like forever. Now we're experiencing summer temperatures in Colorado, and our thoughts are on picnic baskets, baguette sandwiches, and potato salads. I am not a huge mayo fan, and I have always used it sparingly on sandwiches, if at all. It was a great point of contention when I discovered that my husband's family dips their artichoke leaves in mayonnaise. (Melted butter, am I right?) But homemade mayo is a whole different creature than the supermarket stuff. Is anyone surprised?

I recently bought the gorgeous cookbook Around My French Table by Dorie Greenspan. I'm pretty sure that everyone else in the blogosphere (did I really use that word?) already owns this hefty tome, but I tend to be late to the party. When we decided to finally make mayo, I thought Dorie was just the woman to turn to. Of course, I did not read the recipe from start to finish beforehand, and I flubbed it on my first go. (Note to self: read the damn thing first.)

So take it from me, when the recipe says to go slow and literally add the oil drop by drop, it truly means literally. It isn't to say that it takes very long to make mayo (unless you have to start all over again). It actually doesn't take long at all. You just need to do it right. Drop by drop.

Also, I tried it in my food processor which has a gracious 14-cup capacity (love that thing), but it didn't work for this because it was just too big. I switched over to my handy stick blender, and finally things started happening. So if you have a large food processor, use the small bowl attachment, or try another mixing method.

Homemade Mayonnaise

• 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature

• 2 tsp white wine vinegar

• 1/4 tsp Dijon mustard

• 1/2-1 cup oil, mild (such as grapeseed or canola) or more flavorful (we used olive), or a combination

Put the yolk, vinegar, and the mustard in a bowl, blender, or food processor. Whisk or whir to blend. Drop by drop (literally!! don't go to fast here...) start adding the oil, mixing all the while. When you've got about 1/4 cup oil beaten in and the mix is starting to look like mayonnaise (around 4 minutes or so), you can add the remaining oil more steadily, but still slowly. Use at least 1/2 cup oil, and up to about 1 cup to get the consistency you want. We only used the minimum 1/2 cup oil, and we liked how thick and flavorful the result was.