The HUMONGOUS Homemade Mayonnaise Post (2 Recipes!)

Tags

Aioli, AIP, Autoimmune Protocol, Homemade Mayonnaise, Honey Mustard Dressing, Mayonnaise, Paleo, Salad Dressing, Sauce, Tartare Sauce

Model: the teenager
(Image by LM)

Homemade mayonnaise is the second-most important salad dressing to learn how to make from scratch.

At least, that’s what I think. The first is a really good house-made vinaigrette. Your stand-by, if you like. The one you make all the time.

But, a mayonnaise is arguably the MOST important sauce. Because it is just so versatile.

If you’ve never made real mayonnaise from scratch, you don’t know what you’re missing. Really. There is just no comparison with the bought stuff that comes out of a bottle.

Real mayo’ tastes A M A Z I N G

And, it is surprisingly easy to make. Don’t believe me? I managed to use a little elbow grease and whisk up made-from-scratch mayo’ while on the boat bobbing around at sea over the Christmas holidays in New Zealand. Not an electric hand beater or blender in sight…

I don’t remember my Mum ever buying ready-made salad dressing. And, even my Dad is slightly famous for his take on the eponymous Highlander sweetened condensed milk dressing that is seemingly part of every childhood in New Zealand…

Highlander Sweetened Condensed Milk
Highlander Sweetened Condensed Milk Salad Dressing: some variation of
1 can condensed milk
1/2 can vinegar (pretty sure my Dad swears by malt vinegar!)
1 tsp mustard powder
(Image from here)

And, the bought mayo’ – even the high-end boutique-style expensive kind – is usually made with canola oil. And, we don’t touch canola oil here at Casa TSL. No we don’t. Because it’s a highly processed polyunsaturated vegetable oil.

Of course, the downside is that real mayonnaise also contains egg yolks. So, it has to be said that it’s only acceptable autoimmune protocol fare if egg yolks have been safely reintroduced.

And, it almost goes without saying that you want to ensure your eggs come from happy chooks and are as fresh as possible.

This weekend just past, we celebrated the teenager’s birthday by way of a BBQ lunch. It was a scorcher! 34° (that’s about 93° for you Americans!) here in Sydney. LM threw a few steaks on the barbie and I whipped up my take on a Waldorf salad – celeriac, celery, green apple (all julienned with the mandolin); mixed with parsley, celery leaves, a few activated walnuts and dressed with my super special TSL dressing, which uses mayo’ as a base…

My take on Waldorf Salad
(Image by LM)

I first learned about the wonder that is mayonnaise made with my stick blender from the lovely Barbra and Jack over at CutterLight blog. They posted a recipe. It blew my mind that making a mayonnaise – from scratch – could be THIS easy. No more slowly drizzling my oil into the food processor. No more worrying about the chance of it curdling. No more ‘mayonnaise elbow‘!

Since then, I’ve played with the recipe. Tweaked it to accommodate my dietary quirks and tastes.

So, here’s my take on mayonnaise made with a stick blender. I promise it tastes great and it’s a doddle to make!

Homemade Mayonnaise

• Servings: 2 cups
• Time: less than 10 minutes
• Difficulty: easy
• Print

 Ingredients

2 x egg yolks – as fresh as possible and at room temperature
1 x Tablespoon organic apple cider vinegar
1 x Tablespoon water
Generous pinch of salt (I use Himalayan sea salt)
1 cup macadamia nut oil. Avocado oil works well, too.
1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Method:

1. Pop your egg yolks, vinegar, 1 tablespoon water, and salt into a tall beaker. I used the one that came with my stick blender. Very slowly, pour in your macadamia/avocado oil so that it settles on top of the other ingredients.

2. With the blender held against the bottom of the beaker, pulse until the mixture begins to emulsify. 3 or 4 pulses should do it. Keep pulsing until most of the mayonnaise is emulsified. This won’t take long. Definitely less than a minute. Slowly move the blender up and down through the sauce to mix thoroughly.

3. Transfer the mayonnaise into a bowl. Using a hand whisk, slowly pour in the olive oil and lemon juice. Whisk until very well combined.

4. Taste for seasoning.

E N J O Y !

Vulgarity is the garlic in the salad of life.– Cyril Connolly

I’m particularly partial to garlic and love a good aioli. And, for the uninitiated, aioli is just a fancy (French) term for garlic mayonnaise.

Aoili – bash 3 fresh garlic cloves with 1/4 of a teaspoon sea salt using a pestle and mortar. Add the garlic to your egg-yolk mixture at step I. You will not need any more salt.

Tartare Sauce is a wonderful addition to fish and marries beautifully with ox tongue.

Tartare Sauce – make mayonnaise as above. Stir in chopped gherkins, drained capers, freshly chopped parsley and chives along with a little finely diced shallot.

For my Waldorf Salad dressing, I wanted something just a touch sweeter. Like his father, the teenager has a bit of a sweet tooth. I also wanted something a little more runny. So, here’s the mustard mayo’ dressing that I folded through my salad…

Honey Mustard Mayonnaise Dressing

• Servings: 1/2 cups
• Time: less than 2 minutes
• Difficulty: really easy
• Print

1/2 x cup fresh homemade mayonnaise (see recipe above)
1 x teaspoon seeded mustard
1/2 x teaspoon runny honey

Method:

1. If you are making this dressing immediately after making homemade mayonnaise, use the same bowl. Whisk the ingredients together.

2. Taste for seasoning.

E N J O Y !

 

TSL’s TASTY Tomato-Free (NoMato!) Sauce

Tags

AIP, Allergy free, Autoimmune Protocol, Beetroot, Healthy Recipe, Ketchup, Nightshade Free, Nomato Sauce, Paleo, Sauce, Tomatoes

(Image by TSL)

I’m currently on the Autoimmune Protocol, a nutrient-rich elimination diet that removes foods that irritate the gut, cause gut imbalance and activate the immune system. You can read more about the protocol and why I’m doing this here.

Blood may be thicker than water, but it’s certainly not as thick as ketchup. Nor does it go as well with French fries. (Jarod Kintz)

I used to be the queen of tomato-lovers.

Loved ’em. Cooked. Raw. In salads. Served stewed on toast with a few herbs. In a good Caprese. Tomato soup with grilled cheese. With mashed avocado on sourdough toast for breakfast. As the flavour base of many sauces and braises. I’m making myself salivate, here…

I haven’t had a tomato since the start of this AIP caper. Frankly, I miss them. I can do without the bread. I can even do without the cheese. But, tomatoes are such a universal ingredient when you love to cook. Worse, I suspect that – as a nightshade – tomatoes may even be a trigger for some of my not so pleasant autoimmune complaints. And, I’m so scared that this may the case that I’m planning to put off reintroducing them for a while… I can’t face the idea of permanently avoiding tomatoes!

Last Saturday at the markets, there were piles of these beautiful looking beets looking up at me. Without having a clue what I was going to do with them (as is often the way for me at my farmers market expeditions), I picked up a few.

Beetroot is so very good for you – it contains potassium, magnesium and iron as well as vitamins A, B6 and C, and folic acid. Its full of powerful antioxidants and soluble fibre. And, apparently – here’s a fact I did not know – beetroot is an aphrodisiac! Watch out LM!

But, here’s the thing – while I like the taste of beetroot. I don’t love it. I find it kind of earthy, and too much of it is a wee bit overpowering to my palate.

What’s a girl to do with all these beets?

Bella & the Beets!
(Image by TSL)

I could have just made borscht. I know that would have made LM happy. But, it’s just not my favourite thing – beetroot soup.

Since starting AIP, one of the things LM mutters comments about most is the absence of a good sauce or relish for his meatloaf and breakfast hash. I find I don’t miss it – the addition of all the vegetable flavours keeps my taste buds happy. But LM does. So, I had this idea of creating a tomato sauce (ketchup) alternative for him. He is so very good about eating my way.

Of course, any sauce, no matter how good it may turn out to be, needs to be AIP compliant…

So, after googling ‘NoMato Sauce’, and seeing that there seems to be two trains of thought out there in the cyberspace world – roasting or steaming/boiling the vegetable flavour base, I decided to go with roasting. My reasoning? I love the caramel-y flavours that develop with roasting. And, without too much analysis, away I went…

And, you know what? – not bad! Because of all the root vegetables, this nomato sauce has a lovely sweetness to it. And the roasting allows for a good depth of flavour. I stood at my bench scoffing it down with a spoon – which can only be a good thing! LM (aka ‘taste tester’) reckons it will definitely enhance our AIP meatloaf.

Now, in the interests of transparency (and, because I know my Dad will point it out to me), this is not a substitute for old-fashioned ketchup. It doesn’t taste at all tomato-y (which shouldn’t be a surprise, but you never know!) So, it’s a great tasting flavour addition to protein. But, it’s not tomato sauce. Watties and Heinz have nothing to fear… (although, perhaps they should investigate a nightshade free equivalent!)

TSL's TASTY NoMato Sauce

• Servings: 3 Jars (technical term)
• Time: 60 minutes
• Difficulty: easy-peasey
• Print

Ingredients

2 large beets, peeled
2 large carrots, peeled
1 large sweet potato/kumara
1 large onion, peeled
5 large cloves garlic, unpeeled
1/2 cup coconut oil
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
a decent handful of fresh parsley
10 fresh sage leaves (approximately)
Salt and pepper
1/3 cup water, filtered

Method

1. Heat oven to 180°C/360°F.

2. Chop your beets, carrots, kumara and into 1 1/2 cm cubes. Chop your onion. Throw them all into a large roasting dish. Add your unpeeled cloves of garlic.

3. Toss with a couple of spoons of coconut oil, sprinkle generously with salt. Roast for about 40 minutes or until vegetables are tender. I give them a good shake half way through.

4. Remove vegetables from oven. Allow to cool for a few minutes. Pick out the roasted garlic. Squash with a fork to remove the lovely flesh. Throw the roasted vegetables and garlic into your food processor. Add herbs, remaining coconut oil, apple cider vinegar and filtered water. Give it a good whiz until pureed (you may have to stop the machine and scrape the sides with a spatula to get everything).

5. Taste for seasoning. Add freshly ground salt and pepper and a dash more of apple cider vinegar if your taste buds tell you to.

5. Store in the fridge for up to a week or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

E N J O Y !

This recipe features in the Phoenix Helix AIP Recipe Roundtable.