“Hey! I made some mayonnaise. Should we make some oven fries to go with it?”

“Um, mayonnaise?? What’s that??” Suspicious-of-my-mom eyes.

“It’s made with eggs, and olive oil, and salt and a little lemon….it’s creamy and delicous, see? Look!”

“Mo-oommm, are you talking about aioli?”

Yeah, I have THAT kid. One of that occupational hazards of being really into food, I suppose. I’m ok with it.

There are some great posts out there detailing the delicate differences between mayo and aioli, if you’d care to look into it. Apparently, what I make is something in between though it leans a bit more toward aioli. Whatever you choose to call it, this condiment is a staple in our house. As with many of my staple homemade items, I started making it because I was too lazy to drive to the store for it one day. As such, it was requested some time ago that I post the recipe. I think the original people who asked me have figured it out on their own. Hope so, because it’s, ah, been a minute–sorry ’bout that!

Anyhow. Here it is.

Easy Blender Mayonnaise

Ingredients:

1 whole egg

1-1/4 c olive oil (you could use other oil you find delicious)

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar or honey

(1 tsp dry mustard powder)

(1-2 cloves garlic)

(a dash hot sauce or chili powder)

3 tbsp lemon juice or apple cider vinegar (I fill a 1/4 cup about 3/4 of the way and sort of eye-ball it)

Method:

Combine in blender: egg, 1/4 c olive oil, salt, sugar, and any seasonings you choose to use. Blend until well combined. With the blender running on low (and hopefully through the small hole in the lid if you can; otherwise it makes a bit of a mess), SLOWLY stream in 1/2 c oil, then the lemon juice, then the rest of the olive oil. Don’t rush this part. After everything is streamed in, turn the blender up higher and let it go until it looks like mayonnaise. That’s it. Dip oven fries in it, spread it on a sandwich, use it in deviled eggs, or however you use aioli. Or, you know, mayonnaise. My friend L mixes it with pesto and uses it for dips and sandwiches and things. Ooh, I’m hungry just thinking about that.

Troubleshooting:

If you feel like it’s never going to happen (and it’s been more than 3 minutes or so), then you can either throw it out and start over (that’s sad) or remove some of the liquid, add a whole egg (the yolk acts as a binding agent and the white helps it to stop being a liquid), then blend until it looks like mayonnaise, adding back in as much of the original mixture as you can.