Simple Sauces Part 3–Mayonnaise

I'm going to stop you right now. Mayonnaise is a sauce, got it? When it's not white fluff out of a jar, that is.
Seriously. Real mayonnaise (NOT Hellman's "Real" Mayonnaise) is a rich, yellow sauce for bread, potato salads, and many other things. It is made with egg yolks; thus it tastes eggy and delicious.
Mayonnaise is simple, too. In the time it takes you to go to the store and buy mayo, you could make a potato salad with homemade mayonnaise. And contrary to popular belief, you don't have to add the oil drip
by
drip
by
drip.


Mayonnaise (adapted from The Best Recipe):
Makes about 3/4 cup


Ingredients:

1 large egg yolk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1-1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar (sherry vinegar works too)
3/4 cup corn oil (or any other tasteless oil)

1 teaspoon water


Instructions:


Whisk egg yolk vigorously in medium bowl for 15-30 seconds.

Add salt, mustard, vinegar, and lemon juice and whisk until thickened and brightened in color. There is no such thing as over-whisking in this step.

It should be brighter.

Add water and whisk.

Add 1/4 cup oil in a slow and steady stream.

Whisk vigorously until oil is completely incorporated and mixture is thickened, about 1 minute.

It should be thicker than this.

Add another 1/4 cup of oil the same way. Whisk until incorporated.

Add last 1/4 cup all at once and whisk until completely incorporated, about 30 seconds.

Apparently, I failed to whisk it enough.

While this was definitely the best mayonnaise I've ever had, taste-wise, the texture wasn't quite right. It was more of a liquid than a spread, which I will take the blame for. I probably didn't whisk enough. However, that actually made it better for use in a potato salad that night. It was a lot easier to stir in.

My laziness in whisking paid off!

The only modification I made was adding the water, which I decided to do after reading the New York Times' article on mayonnaise. It apparently keeps it from "breaking," or separating before it's supposed to.

Enjoy your mayo!

Simple Sauces Part 1–Tomato Coulis

This is the first in a series of quick and easy sauces to jazz up any dish.
The June 20th edition of the New York Times had an article on coulis in their Good Eating section. A coulis is supposed to be a sauce that is beautiful as well as tasty. Since I've never made a "fancy" sauce before, I decided to give it a shot.
I decided to make my coulis with tomatoes, which were literally the only produce we had in the house beyond scallions and arugula, to go with some leftover chicken my parents brought home from a restaurant. I was improvising most of the time, since the Times used bell peppers. I actually had no clue if this would work or just explode in my face. (I have no clue how that would work either.) So without further ado, here is my tomato coulis.

Tomato Coulis


Ingredients:


2 large tomatoes
2 unpeeled garlic cloves
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

To my knowledge, my brothers have never made olive oil. I wish they would.

1/2 to 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
Seasonings: Salt, pepper, cayanne, cumin
Chicken broth (optional)


Procedure:


Roast tomatoes over a burner or under a broiler until soft.

Place in a brown paper bag to cool.

I assume a white paper bag would work too.

While tomatoes are cooling, roast garlic in a small skillet over medium heat until skin is blackened and clove is soft.

Peel garlic and tomatoes and cut tomatoes into quarters.

Place everything except for seasonings and broth in a blender and pureé until smooth.

Season to taste and blend to mix in spices. If pureé is too thick, add chicken broth. If you like, strain through a fine mesh strainer or chinois. If it becomes too watery after straining, mix solids back in.


Pretty? Yes.
Tasty? Depends.

It was a nice orange color, but I used a full tablespoon of vinegar in mine, which was too much for me. As a sauce for my chicken, it was too strong to use a lot of, although it provided a nice kick when I used a little. It made a great sauce for a veggie stir-fry we had the next day, and my mom said it made a great salad dressing. (She didn't mind the vinegar; she actually ate it as a soup!) Next time, though, I'm either going to use the half tablespoon of vinegar or make a fruit coulis. It really depends on your preferred tastes. Also, I would highly recommend using a broiler to roast your tomatoes because I almost killed myself trying to roast them over a burner.

I dropped it multiple times and almost sent it flying across the room once.