Mayo

One of the best things to keep in the house is homemade mayo. And when you make it with real pasture eggs from the ranch, it's bright yellow. When we have a potluck at work most people get requests for things like rammen noodle salad, or tater-tot casserole. I get requests for apple salad or deviled eggs. And the reason is the homemade mayo. It's easy, a bit time consuming, and fun. Although I will admit that sometimes it doesn't work for me ... right now I have a jar of fairly runny mayo in the fridge. But I don't care. It's still tasty.

Homemade Mayo


2 egg yolks
1 1/2 Cups good oil - but not extra virgin olive, which makes a bitter mayo. I use extra light olive.
1 Tbs lemon juice or vinegar (hubby hates vinegar so I use lemon juice)
1/2 tsp salt
dash pepper
dash cayenne pepper (opt)
Other herbs as desired (I've used cinnamon for dressing for Waldorf Salad, thyme in the summer for chicken salad, rosemary, etc)

Beat the egg yolks in a stand mixer or with a hand mixer until they're creamy and almost double in volume. Use a teaspoon and drop the oil into the yolk drop by drop, beating after each drop. It's very important to go very slowly at this point. I think that's why some batches fail - I get in too big a hurry. After you've added a couple of tablespoons, you can start adding the oil in a very fine stream off the edge of the spoon, beating the mixture the whole time. I use a Kitchen-Aide set on 10 with the whip attachment.
Once you have added a half a cup and have a thickening mixture, add the salt and other spices. Now start pouring the oil in a fine stream into the mixture, adding another half cup. The mixture should be very thick. Add the lemon juice and continue to beat. Add the last half cup oil in a stream. Check for taste and thickness. If the mayo is too thick add a tablespoon of hot water as you beat it.

Your result should be a creamy thick mayo that's perfect for your sandwich, salad, or burger. I store it in a wide-mouth mason jar for up to 2 weeks, but my eggs are just a few days from the chicken at any given point. If you are using eggs from the store, you should use the mayo within a week.