Making a homemade mayonnaise for any reason is superb, but this mayonnaise-dressing created for my Salade Niçoise is simply decadent and versatile.
Let's just open the conversation by pointing out the elephant in the room. Mayonnaise! People are so freaked out by mayonnaise. Well, not the French or the Dutch...or the Belgians now that I am really thinking about it, and that only took me 3 seconds of thought. I bet there are loads more cultures that don't fear "The Mayo".
In my opinion there are too many food items that get a bad rap and I've decided to call them out from now on when I see fit. Why not? If no one else will stand up for Mayo, I certainly will! Especially if you take the time to make it yourself.
"Mayonnaise is not the enemy people! BUT, excess certainly is." -me
Now, I don't eat mayonnaise every day. That's the most important part, moderation! But not everyone is good at moderation. Some people can eat an entire pint of anything unhealthy that they craves, whereas I do something like that maybe a couple times a year.
The Recipe
#mayonnaise is not so hard to make as people might assume. It's really just a matter of mixing and when making it in small quantities, which pretty much is what you should do unless you're working in a restaurant kitchen, its hard to mess up with a whisk, a bowl and a towel.
Standard Mayonnaise
1 egg yolk
1.5 t. dijon mustard
250 ml sunflower oil
1/2- 1 T. tarragon vinegar
1/4-1/2 lemon juiced (before juicing always zest the lemon first!)
To make it a lemon-parsley mayonnaise dressing take 100 g of the already made mayonnaise and add:
Zest of 1/2 lemon
10 g finely chopped parsley
3 T. cold water
15-20 ml lemon juice (depending on the level of sour needed to balance out your salad: because a dressing should actually be quite sour and or salty on it's own but when paired with the ingredients in the salad it balances out). For example, if this dressing is going with a potato salad a sour version of the dressing could be better to balance out the creaminess of the potatoes. I used 18 ml in this salad, just in case you wanted to know.
HOW TO MAKE IT...
Place your egg yolk and dijon in the a bowl that has a flat bottom and not too small. Measure out all of your ingredients if desired. Definitely measure out the oil and place it in a pourable container. Whisk the mustard and egg yolk until well combined. Then place a towel underneath the bottom of the bowl to stop it from rolling around as you continue mixing the whisk with one hand and pour with the other.
Then slowly pour the oil into the bowl as if you have turned the faucet on to have the water come out very slowly. As you pour, whisk at a normal speed. You do not need to whisk like a crazy person. But do it well, trying to incorporate as much of the oil into the thickened paste you made with the mustard and yolk as possible You can slow down or speed up the pace of the oil pouring depending on how well teh oil is incorporating. When half of the oil is mixed, you can add the salt, pepper and some vinegar to thin it out if needed. Then finish the oil and add the lemon juice.
Now you can separate the amount of mayo needed for the dressing. Then add the parsley, more lemon juice and zest. Taste to make sure it has enough salt and pepper. Then slowly add the cold water until thinned out. Too much water and teh dressing will no longer suck to your salad ingredients. Too thick and it will not coat the ingredients well enough.
Take your time, NO stress, mistakes are ok and going to happen when following recipes and have some wine! Then enjoy the food!