Free Making It: Radical Home Ec for a Post-Consumer World by Kelly Coyne, Erik Knutzen Page B

fridge. It can nap in there for a couple of weeks, but not forever. It might take a few days of feeding after it comes out of refrigeration to get back to full strength.
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    Homemade Condiments
    The nice thing about making your own condiments is that you can customize them any way you wish. That and the fact they are delicious. Experiment with these basics. Once you see how easy it is to make your own, you’ll be converted.
    Mayonnaise

    PREPARATION: 5 min
    Come on, live a little! Don’t deny yourself homemade mayonnaise. The secret to making mayonnaise is to be sure that the eggs and oil are both at room temperature before you begin and to combine them very, very slowly. It’s an emulsion. Make it with a whisk. The egg and oil don’t want to combine—you have to coax them together. If you add the oil too quickly, you’ll end up with a thin, greasy liquid instead of mayonnaise.

    YOU’LL NEED
     
2 egg yolks, at room temperature
1 tablespoon lemon juice or vinegar
Sea salt and black pepper to taste
¼ teaspoon dried mustard or paprika (optional)
1 cup sunflower oil (or a similar mild oil), at room temperature
    PUTTING IT TOGETHER
    TO MAKE MAYONNAISE BY HAND: Put the egg yolks in a largish bowl. You want lots of room to whisk. Whisk for a minute or so until the yolks turn thick. Add the lemon juice or vinegar, and a pinch of salt and pepper and the paprika or mustard, if using, and whisk another half minute to incorporate. Then start adding the oil, drop by drop. The first addition of oil is the most critical—this is when the emulsion happens. Add a few drops of oil, beat until creamy, add a little more. It should start thickening by the time you’ve added the first 1/3 cup of oil. After that point, you can add the oil a little faster.
    TO MAKE MAYONNAISE WITH A BLENDER, A FOOD PROCESSOR, OR A STAND MIXER: Follow the same protocols as hand mixing. Blend together the eggs, lemon juice, and seasoning first, until well incorporated. Then start adding the oil in a slow, steady drizzle, bit by bit, while the blender or processor is running. The mayo may thicken before you’re done adding the oil, which might cause a countertop blender to choke. Just scrape down the sides and carry on. The result will be a very creamy, thick mayonnaise. Alternatively, you could make the recipe with 1 whole egg and 1 egg yolk instead of 2 egg yolks, which will make the mix a teeny bit less thick and easier on your blender.
    For both methods, taste and add more salt or pepper or lemon juice if needed. If the mayonnaise sets up too thick, add a spoonful of hot water.
    VARIATIONS
    Add minced garlic or juice from a garlic press to make aioli. Stir in chopped herbs. Crumble in blue cheese. Add cream and a spoonful of curry powder. Add a spoonful of wasabi.
    What do you do with homemade mayonnaise? Of course, it’s a great dip for almost anything, a nice side for meat and fish, and indispensable for egg and tuna salad, but we like it best with vegetables. There’s a type of salad called Russian Salad, made with chilled diced potatoes, mixed vegetables, and cubes of meat tossed in a generous quantity of mayo. We do variations on that dish using boiled potatoes as a base and adding whatever we’ve got coming out of our garden, as well as pickles, olives, chunks of cheese, or hard-cooked egg. All of that is tossed with shameless quantities of mayo and some extra lemon juice and salt and pepper to brighten it up. It’s one-bowl eating at its best, perfect for summer cooking. Sometimes the mix is as simple as potatoes and bitter greens; other times we’ve put everything in there but the kitchen sink. No matter what you use, the mayo binds it into eating perfection.
    Keep the mayonnaise in the fridge and eat it all within a few days.
    Makes 1 cup
    Mustard

    PREPARATION: 5 min
    WAITING: 1 day
    Mustard is so simple to make, and so easily you’ll wonder why you ever bought it in a
    YOU’LL NEED
     
6 tablespoons whole mustard seeds (all