Quail Egg Mayo?
Like most of us out here, trying to be more self-sufficient, I’m re-learning what real scratch cooking actually looks like. That includes remembering that condiments are recipes, not ingredients.
Making mayonnaise is one of those recipes we’ve somehow become convinced is too complicated. It’s not, and it’s quick. I live less than a half mile from two different grocery stores, and I can make a jar quicker than driving to one of those stores and buying a jar ready made. Mine tastes fresher, is missing all those unpronounceable ingredients, and I can customize it in endless ways.
What You Need:
1 cup of a light flavored oil (avocado is nice)
1-2 large chicken eggs (or, happily, 6-8 quail eggs!)
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper (black is fine, but white is invisible)
1 Tablespoon ground mustard
1 teaspoon lemon juice or vinegar (lemon juice is lighter, but vinegar tastes more authentic)
*** I like to use an immersion blender, but I’m sure other tools would work just fine. To each chef his own tools.
What To Do:
Crack your egg into the cup of your immersion blender and add a Tablespoon or so of oil, salt, pepper, mustard and lemon juice (or vinegar). Lower your blender into the cup so that the unit sits on top of the egg yolk (more or less). Turn on the blender but DO NOT move the wand! After a few seconds you’ll see the egg and oil mixture turn thick and white. Now you can move the wand up, down, and around to mix the ingredients. Add the rest of the oil SLOWLY, by drizzling it into the cup as you continue to mix. You may need a helper to drizzle the oil while you move the wand around to mix up all that goodness. When most of the oil is in the cup, just dump in the rest and mix until you have a thick and smooth spread. Makes about a pint.
That’s it. That’s all there is to making mayonnaise. Shocked?
*** I subbed in quail eggs this time because I have an over-abundance, and why not? I’m thrilled to report that not only did the recipe work just fine, the mixture set up in seconds, incorporated the oil flawlessly, and the flavor was perfect. With the superior nutrition of quail eggs, there’s every reason to make Mayo this way from now on.
The lesson here is one I have observed over and over again on this homesteading journey. We’ve been misled. In the space of a few generations, we’ve been convinced to give up our knowledge and skills in favor of convenience. How did our great grandmothers raise broods of children and livestock while baking daily bread, making soap and clothes, and managing a kitchen veggie garden? She was just organized. The truth is that there’s not one single task I’ve taken up in this quest that’s complicated at all. There are many, many tasks to take back up, but learning them one at a time is very manageable.
And taking your life and health back from the current system has more rewards than I can possibly list in one blog post (or 100). Try the Mayo. Maybe add a little garlic. You’ll love the results.
