Homemade Mayonnaise

Homemade mayonnaise is so simple, I can’t imagine ever buying another jar of mayo. It’s superior to store-bought in every way I can think of, and cheaper to boot! Even if you’re a person who doesn’t like mayo, I suggest you give this recipe a try and then decide. Just think of it as a hollandaise sauce, except you use oil instead of butter. You can also personalize the recipe and make your mayo unique by adding lavender, garlic, rosemary, thyme, dill, and even horseradish! All you have to do is make a flavored-oil (heat the oil with the product you want to flavor it with, let it cool to room temp, and strain it) and then use it in your mayonnaise recipe.

I use my immersion (or stick) blender whenever I make mayonnaise. I’ve written about immersion blenders before, and I highly recommend you go out and purchase one (you can get one for around $25). I would imagine that it’s possible to use a food processor or a blender, but I would drizzle the oil in slowly instead of adding it all at once.

Check out the video at the end of the post and see how easy it is to make.

Prep Time: 1 minute
Cook Time: Zero
Difficulty: Very Easy
Notes: I suggest using a neutral oil, such as cannola, but feel free to use any oil you have on hand. If you want to use olive oil, I suggest using a “light” version instead of extra virgin, which tends to have a stronger flavor.

Ingredients:

1 cup oil
1/8 tsp dijon mustard
1/8 tsp salt
1 teaspoon lemon juice or vinegar, or any combination (I like to use apple cider vinegar)
1 egg yolk

Procedure:

Combine all the ingredients except the oil in a measuring cup (or the beaker included with your immersion blender), then insert the immersion blender. Slowly pour the oil over it and wait for it to settle over the original ingredients (remember, oil and vinegar tend to not mix well, so the oil will settle on top), about 5 – 10 seconds. Blend for 15-20 seconds, then start moving the blender up and down to ensure you get all of the oil incorporated and stop when it reaches the desired consistency. The mayo will be a bit tangy at first, but it will mellow out after a few hours in the refrigerator.

Leave the mayonnaise on the kitchen counter, at room temperature, for at least one hour (two is better). Don’t worry about bacteria or spoilage, there is plenty of acid in the mayo to kill anything that would harm you. Then place in a glass jar and refrigerate for up to two weeks (mine rarely lasts that long).

Buen Provecho!

How To Caramelize Onions

I have found, through many a conversation with amateur cooks, that caramelizing onions is one of the top dishes people are confused or intimidated by.  It’s a simple dish, really, requiring only two ingredients in it’s most basic form (onions and some fat to cook them in) and a long, slow cooking process.  I guess the time it takes for them to caramelize properly, plus the attention needed to ensure they do not burn, tends to be a bit overwhelming.

Onions typically contain about 3-5% of their weight in sugar, even though it’s usually masked by the pungent aroma of sulfur.  Sweet onions, on the other hand, usually have twice the amount of sugar than a regular onion.  I chose to use Vidalia onions for my recipe because they already contain a higher concentration of the sugars we’ll need to attain a deep caramelized flavor without having to add any extra sugar (as some recipes call for).  Feel free to use whatever you have on hand if you can’t find Vidalias.

As for where to use caramelized onions, the sweet, deep, and complex flavors go great with steaks, chops, burgers, pizza, tarts, dips, soups, as an addition to sauces, and can even be consumed all on their own.  You can make a batch and store them in the refrigerator for up to one week but, at least in my house, they never last past a few days.  I made this batch to combat the natural acidity of the tomatoes in a tomato sauce I made this weekend.  Some people use sugar for this purpose but why not add an ingredient that also adds some a great depth of flavor to the sauce?

This is part one of a three-part series of recipes that I’ll be posting this week, culminating in a great, slow-cooked tomato sauce that will be combined with some pasta and meatballs to kick up a classic and comforting dish; stay tuned.

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Difficulty: Easy
Notes: This requires a lot of attention to the dish and can’t be left unattended for long

Ingredients:

2 large or 4-5 medium Vidalia onions (about 1.25 – 1.5 pounds), julienned
3 tbsp butter (about 1/3 of a stick of butter)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp fresh thyme, chopped
1/4 cup red wine

Procedure:

Melt the butter over medium heat in a heavy-bottomed, 6-quart pot (preferably a Dutch oven). Add the onions and stir to coat with the melted butter.  Cook the onions for about 20 minutes, stirring every 3-5 minutes, until they look like the second picture below.

Onions just added to the pot              Onions after cooking for 20 minutes

Add the salt and the thyme and allow the onions to cook for an additional 40 minutes, also stirring every 3-5 minutes.  After 45 minutes, the onions will have browned considerably and will have reduced in volume to less than 1/4 of what you started with. Here is what the onions will look like after 45 minutes of cooking:

Onions after cooking 45 minutes

You want them to caramelize a little further, so cooking them for the full hour is recommended. After the onions have cooked for one hour, add the red wine and deglaze the pot. Once most of the wine has evaporated, about 5 minutes, you can remove the pot from the heat and allow them to cool down. Here is an example of what it should look like:

Notice the deep color that caramelization attained.  This translates into a deep, complex flavor that can’t be attained through shortcuts.  These onions can now be used in the third part of our recipe trilogy (the second part is the meatballs) or for any other recipe that calls for them.  It’s pretty easy to make French onion soup from here, but we’ll deal with that another day.

Buen Provecho!

Pickled Red Onions

Pickled red onions seem to be gaining popularity recently.  They are popping up in more and more dishes, though not in as many as I’d like.  They’re very versatile and can be used pretty much anywhere you would use raw onions but don’t want the strong onion flavor to overpower the dish.  They are an easy way to add texture, crunch, acidity, and some brightness to just about any dish.  I find myself using them in almost every sandwich, burger, and taco I make.

I’ve put together a pretty simple recipe.  You should be able to make and fill the jar in under 10 minutes and then all you have to do is wait ’till the next day to enjoy them. The following picture shows everything you’ll need.

Ingredients:

1/2 red onion
3/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 tsp honey
1/2 tsp salt

Procedure:

Pour the vinegar and water in a small pot over medium-high heat.  Let it heat up to where it’s just before boiling (usually about 3-5 minutes) and then add the salt and honey, stirring to dissolve.

Meanwhile, cut the onion in half so that the root end is on each of the two halves and store one of the halves in a zip-top bag in the fridge.  Proceed to slice the remaining half of the onion very thinly.  If you don’t think you can do it with your knife, use a mandoline.  This is how thinly you want them:

By the time you’re done slicing the onions, the rest of the ingredients will be ready.  Remove the pot from the heat.  Place all your onion slices in a clean jar and pour the hot vinegar solution over them.  You want to fill the jar almost to the top and make sure that all the onions are covered.  This is what you want it to look like:

I had to use a small onion (Super Target isn’t the best place for produce) and I use a 16oz jar so I had some extra room.  I normally use half a large onion and have to pack it in (using the whole onion this time would’ve given me too many slices as well).  Place the lid on the jar (be careful, it will be HOT) and leave on the counter to cool to room temperature (about 1-1.5 hours).  Place the jar in the fridge for 24 hours and enjoy!  Here is what they’ll look like after a day in the fridge:

You can now start eating them on your favorite meals.

Buen Provecho!