It’s Memorial Day weekend, the official start of the summer season!
A simple way to make any potato salad, salad dressing or hamburger taste better is by making your own mayonnaise. It’s actually quite easy.
First, you need pasteurized eggs. As most grocery stores do not sell pasteurized eggs, you should do this yourself. This is very important as trace amounts of salmonella can be on the outside of eggshells. The last thing that you want to do is give your family and friends a case of food poisoning.
To pasteurize an egg, all you have to do is remove your eggs from the refrigerator for twenty minutes before submerging them in a pan of water heated to 140 degrees. Leave the eggs in for four minutes. Don’t worry – your egg will not cook. Once pasteurized, return the egg to the refrigerator. Simple, right?
To make one cup of mayonnaise, you will need about one cup of light olive oil, one egg yolk, one tablespoon of fresh lemon juice or white vinegar and a pinch of salt. For additional flavor, you might want to add a touch of mustard or cayenne pepper.
It is important to remember to whisk in the oil at a slow and steady pace. If you have not made mayonnaise before, plan on ten minutes of whisking or blending. If you go too fast, the mixture will break down and become a puddle of a mess that should be thrown out. If the mayonnaise looks too thick, add a teaspoon of water as you want this mixture to be thick and fluffy.
Once done, your homemade mayonnaise has a refrigerated shelf life of about two weeks.
You will be surprised how much better things taste when using homemade mayonnaise over the store bought versions.
Happy Memorial Day!
