What to do with Mayo

Do you make your own mayo? Really, you should. I mean it. It's easy. I'm not holy or nothing, I do keep jars of mayo in the fridge at home - in fact, I keep several different kinds: one kind for smørrebrød, another for french fries, a third for sandwiches - but I like making my own every now and again. Sure, I'm afraid it'll split every time I make it, but so what if it does? There's always a new yolk to the rescue.

I start with two egg yolks (I use pasturized, and I know some people would then think it it wasn't worth the trouble, but I like to be sure that I, or worse, potential dinner guests, won't catch anything) a nice teaspoonful of Dijon mustard and a good pinch of salt. Whisk it together, then add, drop by drop, an oil of your choice. We use grapeseed oil, but any neutral tasting oil will do. Some people like to use a light olive oil for half or one third of the oil, or a dribble of some kind of nut oil, depending on what you'll use the mayo for. Your choice.

Keep adding the oil, whisking and whisking away as you go. In the end, you'll have added about 250 ml. of oil. If the consistency is to thin, add a bit more oil - if it's to thick, you could add a couple drops of water, but start by adding a bit of lemon juice, to taste, that oughta thin it a little too. Salt and pepper to taste, and then you could go for:

Caesar Salad Dressing - add a couple chopped up anchovies, a squirt of lemon, a good grating of parmesan and you're all set.

Sesame & Tamari Dip - mix equal parts drained yoghurt and mayo, add toasted sesame seeds and a couple glugs of tamari. Awesome with carrot sticks. This sounds so simple, and it is, but I swear, everytime I serve it, people ask for the recipe.

Ranch Dressing - and thank you Garrett for that outline, that I of course when straight ahead and bastardized. I use three parts mayo to one part sour cream and one part buttermilk - and then the rest of the hooha, garlic powder, salt, pepper. And oh, chives, instead of dill. Who am I kidding, this isn't Ranch dressing. But it's good.

Garlicky Mayo - lots and lots of chopped up garlic in there, and it's perfect for shrimps.

Remoulade (the Danish kind) - mixed with drained, finely chopped pickles. You need this for fiskefrikadeller. And fiskefilet. And spegepølsemadder.

Guilty sin, mixed with soy sauce, a little honey and wasabi, for sushi. I know, it's terrible, but it's sooo good.

Chicken salad - and egg salad, and tuna salad and any mayo-based salad. And in sandwiches, for roast potatoes - you keep the list rolling...

(I was just corrected by M - we make mayo at least once a week. Busted.)