Mayonnaise

So today when I was making these (which is entirely a different post).. I realized that I was out of mayonnaise. And I had some more in the basement but I thought, why not try making it myself. And I knew just the book to get off of my shelf. The Julia Child book that my husband got me for Christmas. The tricky thing about mayo is that you have to follow the directions pretty closely. I remember my mom making it when I was young and remembered that it is a delicate process... So I'm going to quote Julia on page 87 from her book.

"Points to remember when making mayonnaise by hand (although i used a food processor).

Temperature
Mayonnaise is easiest to make when all ingredients are at normal room temperature. Warm the mixing bowl in hot water to take the chill off the egg yolks. Heat the oil to tepid if it is cold.

Egg Yolks
Always beat the egg yolks for a minute or two before adding anything to them. As soon as they are thick and sticky, they are ready to absorb the oil.

Adding the Oil
The oil must be added very slowly at first, in droplets, until the emulsion process begins and the sauce thickens into a heavy cream. After this, the oil may be incorporated more rapidly.

Porportions
The maximum amount of oil one US Large egg yolk will absorb is 6 ounces of 3/4 cup. When this maximum is exceeded, the binding properties of the egg yolks break down, and the sauce thins out or curdles, If you have never made mayonnaise before, it is safest not to exceed 1/2 cup of oil per egg yolk. Here is a table giving proportions for varying amounts of sauce:

Mayonnaise

Number of Yolks 2
cups of oil 1 to 1 1/2
vinegar/ lemon juice 2-3
Amount of Finished sauce 1 1/4 to 1 3/4 cups

1/4 teaspoon dried or prepared mustard
1/2 tsp salt

Hand-beaten Mayonnaise (again i used a food processor)

Note- The following directions are for a hand- beaten sauce. Exactly the same system is followed for an electric beater. Use the large bowl, and the moderately fast speed for whipping cream. Continually push the sauce into the beater blades with a rubber scraper.

Warm your bowl in hot water. Dry it. Add the egg yolks and beat for 1-2 minutes until they are thick and sticky. (again- since i used my food processor i just added them to the plastic container... and it worked fine and my yolks were pretty whipped)

Add the vinegar or lemon juice, salt, and mustard. Beat for 30 seconds more. The egg yolks are now ready to receive the oil, and while it goes in, drop by drop, you must not stop beating until the sauce has thickened. A speed of 2 strokes per second is fast enough. You can switch hands or switch directions, it makes no difference as long as you beat constantly. Add the drops of oil with a teaspoon, or rest the lip of the bottle on the edge of the bowl. Keep your eye on the oil rather than on the sauce. Stop pouring and continue beating every 10 seconds or so, to be sure the egg yolks are absorbing the oil. After 1/3 to 1/2 cup of oil has been incorporated, the sauce will thicken into a very heavy cream and the crisis is over. The beating arm may rest a moment." (ha! she is hilarious!)

Anyway- it is creamy and delicious... and i'm not even a mayonnaise person. enjoy!