Mayonnaise might be a perfect condiment on its own -- consistently creamy and delicious -- but it has the potential for so much more. Above, Chef Jason Hill of CookingSessions.com pulses up a super-simple Southwest Sauce. A good spicy mayo dressing can really save dry chicken or steak, bland sandwiches and even raw veggies.

This sauce starts with a base of mayo and sour cream and gets a kick from garlic, serrano peppers, cilantro, onion and dried spices. Other than portioning out the ingredients, the only work the food processor doesn't do is chop the cilantro, but we bet you could get away with just picking the leaves off the stem and throwing them in. Once it's combined, load the sauce into a squeeze bottle and add it on whenever Southwest Sauce is needed.

Don't have enough mayonnaise in the refrigerator for a recipe you're working on right now? Don't fret. Check out these easy substitutions that you probably have on hand!

As promised, here's the post about flavoring that tasty and quick mayonnaise you've just whipped up. Coincidentally, a few of you mentioned some of the flavors I was planning on discussing. In the Ricardo feature, there are a number of simple flavor additions in order to get: Indian-style, aioli, remoulade, and American-style.

I whipped up a lazy version of the aioli, above. It's the first time I got to use my freshly grown herbs (delicious chives!), but I had no garlic, so I used my trusty garlic powder as a cheat. It was tasty, easy, and was oh-so-good whipped up with chunks of turkey for a super-speedy turkey salad sandwich. I also whipped up some harissa from the Fresh cookbook and added that into the mix for American-style. That was also quite tasty in a one-potato salad, although I had to cheat on the spice roasting, so it wasn't quite right.

Check out the specifics for the mayo additions after the jump. And please -- weigh in with your own!

I adore mayonnaise (to the point that I once made a meal of just bread and mayo). I love it on sandwiches, and even more on fries. I don't even mind if it's the fake light stuff, as long as it's not the evil Miracle Whip (go here for a rant I couldn't say better myself). However, I have a confession: With all the food I've made, and fresh tastes that I love, I never made my own mayo until this week.

Ricardo inspired me. In the latest issue of his magazine, he's got a Classic Mayonnaise recipe, and then a selection of ways to make it into something even tastier. But for now, let me focus on the white stuff. This recipe was quite good, to the point that I will have to refrain from making more and more and becoming a fat, gelatinous beast hungry only for more oil whipped up with eggs.

There are few changes I'd make, like using a mixture of vinegar and lemon, and perhaps a different oil with a more subtle or desirable flavor, but otherwise, this is great! Check out the recipe after the jump, make your own now, if you haven't, and please be sure to comment about what flairs you add to the mix to make the perfect-tasting plain mayo.

...Flavored mayos will come soon...

The competitors on Top Chef seem to endlessly complain when they have to work with an ingredient that they didn't make from scratch, repeating ad nauseum that they feel such things - namely, processed foods - are far beneath them. But using commercial ingredients isn't beneath all chefs, not even ones like Jean-Georges Vongerichten and David Bouley. Vongerichten serves his Two-Flavored Stir-Fried Shrimp in a sauce of Hellmann's Mayo and condensed milk. Bouley uses Heinz Ketchup in several sauces, including the one served with his Braised Hawaiian Yellowtail appetizer. Other secret ingredients in chefs' pantries include Gravy Master, Kraft Singles, canned creamed corn and Dr. Pepper.

How are high-end, starred chefs getting away with using ingredients that you could find at a convenience store? The answer is that they don't advertise it the same way that they highlight grass-fed beef and organic tomatoes on their menus.

A childhood staple and an adult favorite, the peanut butter sandwich has a special place in all of our hearts and stomachs. The sandwich rose to popularity during WWII, due to rationing at home and its inclusion in the meals of soldiers. The sticky sandwich long outlasted the war and is consumed in 89 percent of U.S. households. Here are eight of the most popular sandwiches that peanut butter is used in.

Fluffernutters - A gooey, sticky combination of peanut butter and marshmallow that has been a source of controversy this year, but is a firm favorite with anyone who likes marshmallow.

Peanut butter, banana and honey - Also known as a PBH, Cafe Intermezzo in Berkeley, California makes a fantastic version of this sandwich on homemade bread.

Hellman's Mayonnaise (Best Foods, for shoppers in the western US) is the favorite brand of Cooks Illustrated and Cooks Country test kitchens, but for all its good qualities, mayonnaise can add a tremendous amount of fat to a sandwich or a dip. Cooks Country compared four varieties of their favorite mayonnaise brand this month to see if you could cut back on calories by switching to a lower fat version, or whether you're really missing out if you do.

The types taste tested were Hellmann's regular, canola oil, light and reduced fat. Unfortunately, the tasters all really preferred the original, full-fat (9g per each 1-tablespoon serving) variety and said that it provided the best flavor when tasted alone and in a dip. The reduced fat (only 2 grams fat per 1-tbsp serving) didn't have nearly as much flavor, but it still produced a creamy texture in dips.

Since most people don't want their spinach dip to taste like straight mayo anyway, you can save some fat and calories by using one of the lighter mayos in your dips and save the full-fat for when flavor really counts, on a sandwich.

The world's biggest sandwich weighed in at 6,991-pounds (3,178-kg) and was nearly 12-square feet. Onlookers in Zocalo Square in Mexico watched a team of more than eight chefs spread mayonnaise, stack up blocks of cheese, place pounds of ham and layer on bags full of lettuce, then lined up to get a taste of the monster version of a lunch favorite. The massive ham sandwich was entered into the Guinness Book of World's Records back in 2004.

I just want to know how they made the bread.

[Via Super Sized Meals]