MAYONNAISE
I use the recipe from Melissa Joulwan's blog, The Clothes Make The Girl. And believe me - the key to luscious, creamy mayonnaise is:
a) letting things get to room temp for long enough, and
b) under NO circumstances do you rush the emulsion process.
Patience has NEVER been a virtue of mine, so I have steered clear of making my own. My excuse was always that it was cheaper to buy a store bought jar than wreck 3 batches before I made a good batch. But with age comes wisdom. And maybe just a little more patience. Mostly because I feel like it's worth it to make my own.
This time, I realized I was out of mustard (either that or I misplaced it - someday I'll reveal my spice cupboard...). So, I did what most innovators and inventors do: I improvised. I also got a tip from Trader Joe that 'wasabi mayo' is actually a thing and hey, I have wasabi powder...
Give yourself at least 4 hrs lead time and possibly 1 hr post/chill time. In a pinch, you can follow the last-minute instructions, but you'll still need an hour.
1 large farm fresh egg
1 lemon
1/2 t. salt
1/2-1 t. wasabi powder
1 1/4 c extra light (MUST be at least light, trust me) olive oil
Let your egg and lemon (and olive oil) sit on the counter for at least 4 hours to get them to room temperature. THIS IS A MUST. If you are short on time, crack the egg and put it in the food processor, and squeeze the lemon an leave it on the counter and let them sit for at least 30 minutes to 1 hr.
Once they're at room temp, add the lemon juice, spices and ONLY 1/4c. olive oil and begin processing/blending for about 20-30 seconds.
If your food processor doesn't have a 'drizzle hole' (I'm sure there is a more accurate word for that), make one by poking a toothpick sized hole in a paper cup and holding it over the machine's 'hatch'. Begin drizzling the remaining 1 cup olive oil into the whirring concoction. This will take 2-3 minutes, but the toothpick-sized hole will keep you from getting antsy and dumping too much in. If it's dripping and not coming out in a smooth stream, try wiggling the toothpick in the hole a bit to make it just a little bigger.
Once it's done, scoop into a jar. It will last about a week longer than your eggs, but if you're using fresh eggs, it's unlikely you'll have any mayo left by the time it expires, because you will want to use it on and in everything. The mayo is a fabulous base for other sauces.
GHEE
Ghee is clarified butter, or butter without the milk solids in it - it's pure fat. And gorgeous. And delicious. Like mayonnaise, it takes patience and practice, but it can be made relatively simply and it's worth the time. Use it to cook with or dip fresh grilled prawns in it.
About an hour in the kitchen
1 lb. pastured butter (Kerrygold unsalted is what I use)
small saucepot
The ability to get your stove on suuuper low heat - you might even try a double boiler (?)
tea ball or small mesh strainer
knife or small spatula
Put the butter in the saucepot and turn the stove on as low as it will go. Let the butter gently melt. Don't stir, but you can move the hunk around very slowly in the pan if you feel like you need to. The goal is to not disturb the milk solids that will be separating from the oil. It will start out getting frothy on the top. If at any time, it starts to actually bubble or look like it's going to simmer, your heat is too high. I had to use a heat diffuser on my gas stove.
Once everything is melted, you'll start to notice white foam on the top. This is where patience and a gentle hand are key. Start gently moving the foam to one edge with the spatula. Using the strainer or an open tea ball, scoop out the foam and get rid of it. I have a pile of paper towels next to the stove that I dump/smack/smear them onto. I also run the strainer under hot water and pat it dry when it starts getting too coated. Keep at this, gently moving the solids that are on the top off to the side.
About halfway through, you'll start being able to see through to the bottom, and you'll see solids on the bottom. LEAVE THEM THERE. They will stick to the bottom of the pot and make it infinitely easier to separate them. However, if you notice they are turning colour from white/light yellow to beige/brown, that means the heat is on to high. Keep the heat low. I have taken the burner covers from the other burners and stacked them up to get the pan off the heat before I had the heat diffuser.
Once you have gotten almost all the foam off the top, turn off the burner and let it sit for just a minute or two, so any residual floating solids can sink to the bottom (or float to the top so you can snag them before moving on to the next step)
Now is the moment of truth. you will very carefully take the saucepot off the burner and start slowly pouring the oil through your strainer and into a bowl. I use a clear pyrex measuring cup (see below) so that I can see any lingering solids that might seep through. This also allows me to make a bit of a mess pouring out of my saucepot, since it doesn't have a pour spout and my pyrex cup is wider than my pot, so drips off the bottom of the pot will end up in the dish. As you pour, you hopefully will see that the solids at the bottom are staying stuck to the bottom, or at least, not mixing with the pure ghee. Once it's all contained and looks totally clear, you can store it on the shelf if you plan to use it in the next week or two. Otherwise, I recommend keeping it in the fridge - it'd be a shame for all your hard work to get rancid, especially with the weather heating up.
The end result looks and tastes divine.
I have more sauces and dips, but these are two pretty labour intensive ones that I wanted to post before I forgot!
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