"mayo" news and stories

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...

Source

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.