Basic Mayonnaise

Making mayonnaise still seems like a byproduct of alchemy to me somehow, even though I've proven to myself once that's not true. It's very straight-forward, not at all a mysterious event. This time I thought I'd try a different recipe so dusted off one of my few cookbooks.

Basic Mayonnaise
adapted from Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone
click to print

1 egg yolk, room temperature
1 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tsp white wine vinegar
salt, a pinch
3/4 c peanut oil
1 tsp extra-virgin olive oil

Rinse a 1-quart bowl with hot water; dry. Add egg yolk and whisk vigorously until thick and sticky.

You can tell I rinsed and immediately dried the bowl - there are no water spots.

Stir in Dijon mustard, salt, and white wine vinegar.

Night-time imaging sucks. My Dijon mustard is not orange.

Whisk in peanut oil by droplets until the the mixture begins to thicken (at least 1/3 of the oil will have been added), the whisk in the remaining oil in a thin, steady stream.

Without a third arm or a tripod (and still a third arm), I can't capture all of the whisking. Just know I followed the instructions and this part took 15 minutes.

Add the extra-virgin olive oil at the end; season to taste with salt and white wine vinegar.


Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.


My arm is going to fall off but I did it. I made mayonnaise for the second time ever and it's stupid simple. I can't believe I used to buy mayonnaise which, if you think about it, is a mystery. How can raw eggs be kept for so long on a store shelf at room temperature?

FYI, when I decided to get rolling on this, I hadn't planned in advance and wanted to start on it ASAP. I placed my refrigerated egg in a bowl of lukewarm water for just a few minutes to get it up to room temperature.


Cost:

• egg: $0.30
• Dijon mustard: $0.16
• peanut oil: $1.27
• extra-virgin olive oil: $0.03

Total: $1.76 for just over a cup of mayo.

Broiled Tuna Tacos

Tacos are delicious especially when all the components such as salsa, guacamole, and even the tortillas, are fresh. Loading them with fresh ahi tuna should make them excellent, right? After subduing the holy-crap-fish-is-expensive anxiety, I went ahead and made the plunge.

Originally written for a grill, I did it in the broiler. And while the recipe called for purchased guacamole, I made my own.

Broiled Tuna Tacos
adapted from Cooking Club of America
click to print

SALSA
1/2 c seeded, chopped tomato
1/2 c chopped onion
1/4 c chopped fresh cilantro
1 1/2 tsp canola oil
1/8 tsp salt

TACOS
1 tbsp canola oil, divided
1 lb. tuna fillet (3/4 inch thick)
1 tsp ancho chile powder
1/4 tsp salt
8 (6-inch) corn tortillas
1 c guacamole

Combine salsa ingredients in small bowl.


Brush 1/2 tablespoon of the oil over tuna; sprinkle with chile powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt.


Heat broiler. Broil tuna 4 to 5 minutes for medium-rare, turning once.



Remove tuna; let stand 5 minutes before coarsely chopping.


Spread guacamole over tortillas; place tuna in center. Top with salsa; fold tortillas in half.



These would've been really good - if I liked the ancho chile powder. It is really unfortunate I put a whole teaspoon of it on those tuna steaks. Blech! Rather, I should say, I'm glad I put the lesser recommended amount on the steaks. Hooray! It could've been worse!

Having never cooked a thick steaky fish before, I wasn't confident the total cooking time was ok, but remembered this is the type of fish I've eaten on pieces of sushi so didn't sweat it. It was slightly warm when I touched the cut fish, so am guessing the 2.5-3 minutes on one side and 3-4 minutes on the second side worked out well. For even cooking, I probably should've done the same amount of time on each side. It looked lopsided with one side having a thicker "sear" than the other. If you're interested, the broiler rack was set on the lowest position.

I liked the salsa, or pico de gallo, but wish I'd put some jalapeno - with seeds - in it. Heat would've been nice. I'd added jalapenos to the guacamole, but apparently not enough.

Cost:

• tomato: $0.81
• onion: $0.30
• fresh cilantro: $0.49
• canola oil: $0.28
• tuna fillet: $27.74
• ancho chile powder: $0.10
• corn tortillas: $0.16
• guacamole: $1.19

Total: $31.07 or about $7.77 for each of four 2-taco servings.

Homemade Mayonnaise

I've been watching a lot of short Gordon Ramsay clips on YouTube lately and have been inspired to make some mayonnaise. I'm not doing Gordon's recipe for mayo because he does it in a fancy Cuisinart with a pile of eggs, making a boat load. Sure he says you can whisk, but I'd rather find a recipe specific to whisking because I'm a puss. Searching, I found this recipe which looks quite simple and the yield is small but still plenty for me.

Homemade Mayonnaise
from Epicurious
click to print

1 large egg yolk
1 1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp white wine vinegar
1/4 tsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp salt plus more to taste
3/4 c canola oil, divided

Whisk egg yolk, lemon juice, vinegar, mustard, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in medium bowl until blended and bright yellow, about 30 seconds.


Using 1/4 teaspoon measure and whisking constantly, add 1/4 cup oil to yolk mixture, a few drops at a time, about 4 minutes.


Gradually add remaining 1/2 cup oil in very slow thin stream, whisking constantly, until mayonnaise is thick, about 8 minutes (mayonnaise will be lighter in color).


Cover and keep chilled. Can be made up to 2 days ahead.


I whisked like a crazy fool, scared the emulsion would break, and I think my mayo might have turned out a little runnier than anticipated since some of the oil I was drizzling in wound up splashed on my shirt, the counter, and the backsplash. During my mayonnaise research I learned that the more oil you add, the stiffer the mayonnaise will be. By the time I was done though, the idea of whisking in more oil was enough for me to just chop my arm off and be done with the damn thing as it was verging on useless.

Gordon Ramsay would yell at me because I couldn't bring myself to taste my efforts. It looks like it turned out okay but it's mayo and I've never eaten mayo by itself. I have fried some on a griddle in my youth and that continues to amaze/horrify me. I will guess that it's better than the stuff purchased at the store (and kept at room temperature, gross!) and doubt I'll buy mayo ever again. This was so easy and done in less than 15 minutes with stuff I generally have anyway. Based on the cost though, I can see why it's effective to just buy it.

Cost:

• egg: $0.31
• lemon: $0.35
• Dijon mustard: $0.04
• canola oil: $1.32

Total: $2.02 for about 1 cup.

..........................................................................................................................................................
05/21/14
I just made some more of this mayo and it took about 4.35 minutes. When I made it last time I went so slow it took what seemed like forever. This time I made it like I was emulsifying a salad dressing. Blammo, done in minutes, no worrying. And I don't have an urge to chop my arm off.

Pesto

Around 1994, I got a new boss at the meat-packing plant who was the first "foodie" I'd ever met. So new to this concept, I didn't know what it was - I'm not sure there was a name for it then. Michelle learned that I liked to dabble in food and scoffed when learning I was still teething on recipes from Better Homes and Garden magazines of my mom's. Subtly schooling me on food, she brought in a bunch of old copies of Gourmet magazine. Mesmerized, yet realizing this was all way over my head, I found the simplest chicken recipe from the stack of magazines - a chicken recipe I'd ended up adapting to two ingredients: a chicken and a jar of pesto.

Shopping, I picked up my first whole chicken ever, and scrounged the store for a jar of pesto. It was an expensive little jar, the ingredient statement I still remember: basil, olive oil, pine nuts. What the hell is a pine nut?! I was clueless.

The entire quantity of pesto went under the chicken skin, over the skin, and in the cavity. Without a meat thermometer, I relied on the directions which told me the leg would wiggle loosely when the chicken was cooked through. And I let the cooked bird rest. Mutilating the bird in attempts to carve it, it was the best chicken I'd ever eaten. Leftovers I took to work to share with my immediate coworkers and I still remember Toby, mouth full of chicken, exclaiming, "this is the best chicken ever! it is so moist!"

Here it is, nearly 20 years later and I'm making my own pesto. I'm getting there. If you do't have a chopper, Deborah offers instructions using a mortar and pestle at the link below.

Pesto
adapted from Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, also found here
click to print

2 large garlic cloves
1/4 tsp salt
3 tbsp pine nuts
3 c loosely packed basil leaves, stems removed, leaves washed and dried
1/2 c freshly grated Parmesan
1/2 c extra-virgin olive oil

In a food chopper, process the garlic, salt, and pine nuts until fairly finely chopped.


Add the basil and olive oil and process until smooth, in batches if necessary.



Add the cheese and process just to combine.


Cost:

• garlic cloves: $0.16
• pine nuts: $1.36
• basil leaves: $5.85
• Parmesan: $0.06
• extra-virgin olive oil: $0.72

Total: $8.15 for about 1 cup. I think that's about how much you'd need to make that chicken. It'll be plenty for stuffing burgers.

Nutella

I'm a late-comer to the Nutella party. There's a ton of recipes out there utilizing Nutella and there's a bunch more describing how to make your own. I wanted to know what the fuss was all about. Plus Todd recently alerted me to the fact that Nutella had been sued for essentially deceiving the public through false advertising.


Marketed as a nutty-chocolately spread to top toast for breakfast, someone was somehow baffled that the spread wasn't healthy as the marketing implied and thus deemed it sue-worthy. Me? I'm wondering how crack-alicious this hazelnut spread actually is.

NOTE: Since the lawsuit has been settled, I'm sure the label shown above is not the same as it was pre-2012.

Relieving the two containers of their twin-pack plastic restraint, I removed one of the lids and found a gold foil seal.


Removing that foil seal, I found a pool of oil on the surface of the spread. A little disturbed at first since palm oil is the second ingredient, I marveled.


Stirring the oil into the cocoa-nut paste yielded a smooth textured, pretty brown, hazelnut-smelling, chocolate-appearing spread.


Licking the spoon, I found I liked it but had no desire to spread it on toast or make a sandwich with it. I'll be looking for recipes in which to use it or else I'll just be eating it with a spoon.

Nutella in a (2 x 26.5 oz) twin-pack available near the peanut butters and jellies at Costco for $9.89, making each of 40 total tablespoons about $0.25.

Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce

I didn't take the leftover chicken croutons and dressing to work yesterday.


Instead I bought some of this worcestershire (pronounced wist-i-sure where the i's are like that in wish according to a Bostonian).


And then I used it to jazz up the dressing to make more salad.


Lea & Perrins Worcestershire available in the condiment aisle at Ralph's near the steak sauce for $2.99 a 5 oz bottle, making each of about 30 teaspoons $0.10.