Coming back...with mayonnaise

I realize that it as been quite a while since I last posted something up. To carry on from the last post, my strawberry plant did not do quite as well as I had hoped. It had grown and the leaves are large and bright green, and small white flowers have continually popped up. However, the berries never formed larger than half of my pinky fingernail.

So, my attempts at strawberries has been unsuccessful. It may possible be due to the fact that they were indoor plants and didn't get as much sun as needed. However, at the same time I was attempting to grow basil plants, which I did quite successfully. They are still producing leaves to this day. They began to flower some weeks ago, which I stopped by pinching them off. Allowing flowers to grow strips the flavor from the leaves because the plant is focusing its energy to the flowers. I am quite proud of my basil plants.

Now for the mayonnaise...I decided to try my hand at making this condiment from scratch. The recipe I used was based on one from a platter of figs and other recipes by David Tanis, a chef at Chez Panisse, the very well known restaurant in Berkeley, CA. It calls for two egg yolks and a cup of oil. Yes, it's a ton of oil, but for those who did not know, mayonnaise is at its simplest, a mixture of egg yolks and oil.

I read in other cookbooks that the eggs should be at room temperature so I let them sit out on the counter for a while. And just out of curiosity, I used half olive oil and half sunflower oil. I used a hand mixer to whip the egg yolks until they had a thick consistency and then very slowly, drizzled the oil in a thin stream. You can't put too much in too fast or the eggs will curdle. The mayonnaise then gets flavored with Dijon mustard, vinegar, salt and pepper to taste. I also added some paprika to make it more interesting, but you can pretty much add whatever you choose. The resulting texture is a smooth, thick condiment. While kept in the fridge, it did not separate very much. If left out at room temperature or warmer, it does separate; and although you can mix it back together, the texture is not the same.

Making mayonnaise was an interesting process. If you like mayonnaise, it is worth a try since it does not take that long to make. I am not a huge fan of it (Thomas loves the stuff), but the flavor of a freshly made one very intriguing and I find myself always sneaking a taste.