Home-made, fresh mayonnaise in a matter of seconds? Read on, and by all-means give this a go!
Why We Chose This Recipe
We have a love hate relationship around here when it comes to reality television. Sometimes it can be something to do to pass the time, other times it’s just a bore. Still, we do seem to get suckered into one show or another once every 6–12 months. In the last few years we have been glued to the renovation shows, first planning and then building our own house we found them quite relevant to what was going on in our lives.
With the house now built however we have found those shows almost repulsive rather than compulsive viewing lately – it’s just so depressing seeing all of the people spending someone else’ss money to finish renovations whilst we are stuck at a stand-still with our own place saving up for the next piece of the puzzle!
It’s been no surprise then that we’ve warmed back up to the latest series of Masterchef. It’s been a few years between seasons, I can’t even remember who won the last one we watched but it would have been at least a few years ago. I think back then it got to a point of over-saturation, it was about the time they started having kids Masterchef shows between adult series and we just couldn’t be bothered with the brand. Every series became very much the same and combined with the clichés and over-enthusiasm of the judges we lost interest.
This year however Masterchef has been a welcome return, and with the thoughts flowing through us to get this website up and running it just seemed relevant and appropriate for what was happening in our lives. Whilst nothing much has fundamentally changed to the format it’s nice to get back into it and watch a cooking show again which does not involve all the bitching and moaning that Channel 7’s My Kitchen Rules has made their ‘trademark’.
A few weeks ago we were watching one of those ‘master-class’ episodes that Channel 10 play every few weeks. We don’t normally watch these episodes as they are often on a bit late and sometimes seem like all they are about is the judges doing allot of what they love to do – talking about themselves and saying cringe-worthy statements like ‘food-dream’ and ‘cook with your heart’.
This episode we were watching however had one amazing segment to it that just grabbed the attention of both of us. There was a look between us of amazement as we heard the gears click into place in each other’s heads. The segment featured Matt preston – way over dressed, (as usual) and looking a little like a chubby serial killer wearing a heavy leather apron that would look more at home in a horror movie. I half expected him to pull out large meat cleaver from below the bench top and proceed to butcher a small cow right on our TV screen.
What he did however was far more interesting and such an enlightening moment for us. It may sound simple, well it really is simple but it isn’t something we had thought of before and thats what has blown my mind. Matt Preston managed to make something we thought would be quite hard very easily. Put simply, he made Mayonnaise, whole egg mayonnaise but without all of the whisking and mucking about with drizzling oil and doing it all slowly and all of the other stuff I couldn’t be bothered with.
Instead of all of the effort however he made amazing mayo very simply, with a small appliance most people have in their kitchen – a humble stick (immersion) blender. It was a matter of seconds to make, not minutes and it just looked too easy. I couldn’t believe what I saw and instantly (ever the skeptic) called it as a bluff, a trick of the camera and some kind of magic only TV chefs can do.
The Outcome
The next day the vision of the mayo magically coming together in seconds from the bottom of a blender jug just wouldn’t leave my mind. I had to try it. With no real hope that it would work I half-expected it to turn out much like my ongoing struggle to poach an egg, which is to say a total mess and waste of perfectly good eggs. To the surprise of both of us however the opposite was true. It worked – not just worked but it worked PERFECTLY! Simple, quick, easy, cheap amazing whole egg mayonnaise made fresh? What a game-changer!
Will we make this again?
We’ve since made a few times now and come summer time I can well imagine this delicious mayo coating many-a-salad and slaw with different flavour combinations to try out and experiment with! I’d encourage anyone to have a shot at this if you’ve got the equipment and are a lover of a nice creamy mayonnaise – without all of the preservatives and other gunk.
Recipe
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice (fresh-squeezed is always best)
- 1 teaspoon wholegrain mustard (or more to taste)
- 1 cup vegetable or canola oil
- Pinch of salt to taste
- Carefully crack your egg into the bottom of your blender cup/jar/jug ensuring that it does not break. Add the lemon juice and mustard to the egg. The key to making the simple mayo is the container you use for the blending. The head of your blender needs to only just fit the cup/jar/jug without too much room on each side. It does not work so well if your jug/jar/jug is too wide and you’ll have to make the mayo by slowly adding the oil instead of putting it all into one container. We ended up going to the local cheap shop and buying a small glass container which fits our blender pretty much perfectly – and as a bonus it came with an air-tight lid for storing the mayo in the fridge… and an even bigger bonus, its dish-washer safe!
- Pour the oil over the egg/lemon juice mixture and allow to settle for 15 seconds so that the oil separates from the other ingredients to form layers.
- Place the head of immersion blender at bottom of cup so that the head covers the egg yolk. Switch it on at the highest speed. As mayonnaise forms and the mixture thickens, slowly tilt and lift the head of the blender a little higher in the jar. Keep working the head of the blender up to the top of the mixture until all of the oil has magically be converted to delicious mayonnaise.
- Season to taste with salt. You can also mix through any type of flavouring into your mayo, want a bit more tang? Add a little more lemon juice. Want a tasty aoili? Add some roasted garlic to the mixture before blending. There are loads of flavour combinations to try!
- Store the mayo a sealed air-tight container in the fridge for up to two weeks, although I wouldn’t keep it longer than a week. It always tastes much better cooled, so make ahead of time to allow some cooling time in the fridge.