twimii - the way i make it is

Homemade Mayonnaise

This is another recipe from the old twimmi site. Homemade mayonnaise is definitely worth the effort - if you have a food processor or if you are a world champion arm wrestler. Otherwise expect a lot of pain. A lot.

The first time I made this I used a balloon whisk - as I had nothing else. All I can tell you is that it is possible but extremely tiring. So I would advise using an electric whisk or some suitable processor to beat the eggs. If you do decide to this by hand I would advise soaking a towel in hot water, wringing it out, standing the bowl on this and bunching up the towel around it. It will help keep the bowl steady and the heat seems to help with the binding process also.

Yeah, that's what I said the first time I posted this recipe but see that scary yellow monstrosity above that was the result. I can't believe it's not not mayonnaise™ And no that yellow colour is not from some camera filter or lighting trick. It really did look that radioactive.

But don't worry with a food processor it's so easy and definitely worth it.

How it should (and does) look...

The way I make Homemade Mayonnaise is

Ingredients

It's very important that all the ingredients are at room temperature when you make this - it helps it bind.

• 2 large egg yolks
• 250 ml of groundnut (peanut) or sunflower oil
• 1 tsp mustard flour (powder)
• 1 garlic clove, crushed (optional)
• vinegar (or lemon juice)
• salt & pepper

Instructions

1. Put the yolks into a bowl - try to avoid having any white as it's going to be harder to bind them if you have much white with them.
2. Add the mustard flour, and some salt and ground white pepper to the eggs.
3. Beat together until it's smooth and has a cake mixture kind of consistency
4. Add in a drop, no more, of the oil, and beat it well in
5. Do this slowly over and over again until you have you have added half the oil
   1. It's imperative to add the oil drop by drop and to make sure that each drop is well binded to the mixture - you'll know you're doing it right when the mixture starts to thicken
   2. If it doesn't start to thicken, don't despair - just get a fresh, preferably warm, bowl and beat in a new egg yolk, and then to this slowly add your first mixture drop by drop
      Yes, this is a very tiring process!
6. So if you have successfully binded half the oil to the egg, then add a small dash of vinegar to the mix and beat in well. This will thin the mixture and actually make binding the rest of the oil easier.
7. Now, if you are able to keep the bowl steady, with one hand drizzle in the rest of the oil, slowly, while you beat it into the mix with the other

• It can be quite nice to substitute lemon for the vinegar, you get a slightly fresher taste
• To make garlic mayonnaise you can either add 1 clove of crushed garlic to the above or make a new batch, adding the crushed garlic to the yolk at the beginning
• The mustard powder helps the mix bind but it also gives a bit of kick to the mayonnaise. It is possible to make it without (but I would not recommend it) or to add more if you prefer.
• You can also experiment making it with different kinds of oil. Groundnut oil has the most neutral taste.

It is tiring, especially if you're using an ordinary balloon whisk, but the result is very satisfying. It doesn’t taste much like the stuff in the jars you buy in the shops, I think it tastes much better - and I like the shop bought stuff - but I know that this might disappoint some people. Especially if looks like that scary yellow mess above.