Mayo

I made mayonnaise, y'all.

I never much liked mayo.  Looking back, that could be because I didn't realize that mayonnaise and "dressing" (think Miracle Whip), are not the same thing.  I definitely didn't like "dressing," and I still don't.  I probably assumed I didn't like mayo because I for sure didn't like "dressing." Did you know it has corn syrup in it?  Yuck. 

The turning point in my attitude toward mayo may have come when my aunt strongly suggested  that I try (read: didn't give me a choice and ordered for me) a hamburger topped with mayo and green olives, when I was out to lunch with her one day.  It was delicious.  Then came Whopper Wednesday when I was at school--Whoppers for $1, every Wednesday, complete with mayo.  It was a thing.  So good--the food and the memories.  Now, it's the Deluxe Butterburger from Culvers.  Mmmm.  Love them.  Kind of obsessed.

I still don't eat a whole lot of mayo, but it's an ingredient in a few of my favorite lunch prep items, and I do like to smear some on my hamburgers from time to time.  Always with olives, of course.

I've wanted to make my own ever since I discovered how simple mayonnaise is to make.  And I was planning to, the last time we ran out of store bought mayo.  But I forgot.

This time?  I didn't forget.

It was even easier than I thought it would be, and I thought it would be pretty darn easy.  The hardest part was scraping the finished mayo out of the blender into the jar.* 

Now, there is a raw egg in there, which would make me nervous if I didn't have chickens--I doubt Toasty Crunch is gonna try to kill me by poisoning me with salmonella, since I bring her food.  If you don't have chickens, or think your chickens might try to poison you, you can use a pasteurized egg.** 

I used olive oil, because that's what I had, but next time, and there will be a next time, I will endeavor to use avocado oil.  In fact, I've already got avocado oil on my shopping list, because you never know when you're going to have a mayo emergency.

This is the recipe that I used.  Don't let the long list of ingredients (is 8 long?) intimidate you.  Really, all you need is oil, an egg, and acid.

Let me know if you try it!

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*One more reason I (occasionally) wish I had an immersion blender.  I could have just made the mayo in the storage container, which would have eliminated the need to transfer, and would have resulted in less waste.

**I don't know how egg pasteurization works.  How do they pasteurize without cooking the egg?  I guess I'll have to find out, and I may or may not report back.