Friday, December 1, 2006

Quick mayonnaise

QUICK MAYONNAISE
1 whole egg, size 3
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon grain mustard
175ml (6 fl oz / 3/4 cup) olive oil - light
175rnl (6 fl oz / 3/4 cup) sunflower oil
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Salt and pepper

Put egg, white wine vinegar and mustard into a blender and mix together until creamy and smooth. With the motor still running, add the oils in a slow, steady stream. Season with lemon juice, salt and pepper.

Use a light olive oil for this dressing; heavy, strong-flavoured oils (including extra virgin olive oil) can produce mayonnaise with a bitter taste.

USEFUL TIPS

* If the mixture starts to curdle, don't panic! Put another egg yolk into a separate bowl and beating constantly, add the curdled mixture to it drop by drop. Then continue with the recipe.

* Make sure all the ingredients are at room temperature. Leave them out 3-4 hours before making the mayonnaise - this will help prevent curdling.

* If the consistency of the mixture gets too thick, add water - one teaspoon at a time - until it corrects itself.

* To thicken mayonnaise, slowly add more oil until the correct consistency is achieved.

* Plain or flavoured mayonnaise can be thinned down and used as a dressing for salads. Add 300ml (10fl oz / 1 1/4 cups) cold water to basic mayonnaise and mix together well. Alternatively, it may be more . appropriate to use half the quantity of mayonnaise in which case add 150ml (5 fl oz / 2/3 cup) water.

* Mayonnaise can be kept for 48 hours in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

* A more economical way to make good mayonnaise is to use a combination of sunflower and olive oil.

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