My husband makes the mayonnaise in our house and that’s why it is called Michael’s Mayonnaise! He makes it for no other reason but that he likes making it and it tastes so good! He started out using the recipe in Mastering French Cooking because that is the one I always used but after a number of trials he moved away from Julia and closer to Jamie Oliver. However, he still follows Julia’s advice to warm the bowl with hot water before you make the mayonnaise – it helps the mixture to emulsify. Don’t forget that it has to be thoroughly dried inside before you start.
I think the recipe is fairly fool proof but we have learned that if your mayo separates don’t toss it out. Warm a bowl in hot water and dry it. Add a teaspoon of mustard and a tablespoon of the separated mayo and whisk until incorporated. Add the remaining split mayonnaise teaspoon by teaspoon, incorporating each addition before continuing.
The other thing we learnt was that extra-virgin olive oil makes for a very strong tasting mayonnaise. Michael blends the olive oil with a local Cotswold Rapeseed oil or sunflower oil; usually about 50/50 but you can adjust it to your own taste when you have made a few batches.
If you store the mayo in the fridge, allow it to come to room temperature before stirring. If it separates, use the same method above to emulsify.
Michael's Mayonnaise
Easy, delicious mayonnaise that will be the pants off anything storebought.
Ingredients
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 tsp. Dijon mustard
- 2 cups +/- mixture of Extra Virgin Olive oil and Sunflower oil to taste
- 1 lemon
- Salt & Pepper
Directions
- Step 1 Fill the bowl you will be using to make the mayonnaise with hot tap water. Dump the water out and dry the bowl well. Put the egg yolk and mustard into the bowl and whisk together. Add the oil by teaspoons until you have incorporated about ¼ cup and the mixture has begun to thicken. Continue whisking vigorously as you add the remaining oil in a thin stream.
- Step 2 It helps if someone holds the bowl still so that you can use the whisk with one hand and add the oil with the other. Alternatively, you can wedge the bowl so that it does not move.
- Step 3 Taste
- Step 4 add lemon juice, salt and pepper as needed. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to two weeks.
- Step 5 White wine vinegar can be used in addition to or in place of the lemon juice but the taste will be different. It is a matter of individual preference. It is important to remember that your lovely thick mayonnaise will become progressively thinner as you add the lemon juice or vinegar so add it judiciously until you have a good understanding of how it will turnout in terms of taste and texture.
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