You Want Mayo On That?

Well, we finally finished up the gargantuan tub of mayonnaise we had bought at Costco back in the Winter of '03 (just kidding about the date). We used the last of it a week and a half ago but I've been just the teensiest bit too chicken to make it from scratch (there's a pun in there somewhere). Procrastination only gets you so far though, and so without any further foot-dragging, today was declared.... THE DAY.

Feeling as though my first best hope lay in the direction of Julia Child, I cracked open her tome on French Cooking. Here is where I admit that I've had the two-volume set for almost six months now and have yet to do anything more than just read them. In my defense, they are wonderfully written and infused with the author's subtle wit, so I feel no real guilt. But they are not novels, nor are they kitchen decór. After all, one of the raisons d'etre for this blog is to get me cookin' my books, so to speak.


So what have I been waiting for? Well, I've not been looking forward to all that whisking, whisking, whisking... makes me tired just thinking about it. So imagine my delight when I found that Julia had updated her original mayo recipe/technique to include a food processor method...

• Food Processor Method for making Mayonnaise from pg. 88-89 of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, vol. I by Child, Bertholle & Beck (2009); also on 363-364 of Julia Child's other amazing book The Way To Cook (1989)
  

My Notes: Plan ahead - eggs need to be room temp. Used Meyer lemon juice (had it). I set aside the two leftover egg whites to make these cookies (without the "eyes"). Used one cup canola oil and one cup olive oil. Half way through adding the oil I added a pinch more salt and another tsp of lemon juice. With just a quarter of the oil left to go, I added another tsp of lemon juice. Salt was o.k. Once all the oil was incorporated, I tasted it again and added 2-1/2 more tsp of lemon juice (all that was left). The mayo was creamy and thick. Olive oil (even at a 50/50 ratio) is a tad bit too strong tasting, next time try different ratio. Total time: 15 minutes! Will I ever attempt mayonnaise using a whisk? Yes, if my food processor breaks and my car is out of gas.

Notes (6/19/11): Not keen on canola anymore, I'm going to try different oils or combination of oils next time. Julia mentions using peanut oil in TWTC. Grapeseed oil might work well since it's very neutral tasting. Or, maybe I'll just learn to like olive oil mayo since olive oil is so much healthier than the other options. Something to think about.

Raisons d'être: (French) meaning reasons for being, justifications for existing. Deep huh?
FYI: There are a couple other mayo recipes around here... just click on the "condiments" label in the side bar.