Mayonnaise

Mayonnaise

Recipe courtesy Alton Brown (2003 Television Food Network)
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Yield: 9 fluid ounces

1 egg yolk*
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
2 pinches sugar
2 teaspoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 cup oil, safflower or corn

In a glass bowl, whisk together egg yolk and dry ingredients. Combine lemon juice and vinegar in a separate bowl then thoroughly whisk half into the yolk mixture. Start whisking briskly, then start adding the oil a few drops at a time until the liquid seems to thicken and lighten a bit (which means you've got an emulsion on your hands). Once you reach that point you can relax your arm a little (but just a little) and increase the oil flow to a constant (albeit thin) stream. Once half the oil is in add the rest of the lemon juice mixture.

Continue whisking until all of the oil is incorporated. Leave at room temperature for 1 to 2 hours then refrigerate for up to 1 week.

Raw egg warning: The American Egg Board states: "There have been warnings against consuming raw or lightly cooked eggs on the grounds that the egg may be contaminated with Salmonella, a bacteria responsible for a type of food poisoning...Healthy people need to remember that there is a very small risk and treat eggs and other raw animal foods accordingly. Use only properly refrigerated, clean, sound-shelled, fresh, grade AA or A eggs. Avoid mixing yolks and whites with the shell."

Personal Note: Once you have real homemade mayonnaise you will never go back. Once you get the hang of it, it's incredibly easy, and it makes a HUGE difference. I refused to use the stuff on anything when I still thought store bought was all there was; I found it really gross. But seriously. This mayonnaise makes anything a zillion times better. And you don't use much because it's already got a lot of flavor; a little goes a long way.

Spaghetti Carbonara

Spaghetti Carbonara

Show: Taste (1996 TV Food Network)
Yield: 4 servings

1/2 pound piece of pancetta
4 cloves of garlic
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup dry white wine
2 large eggs
1/4 cup freshly grated Romano
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
a liberal grinding of pepper
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 pound cooked spaghetti, drained and hot

Cut a 1/2 pound piece of pancetta. Crush and peel the garlic up. Put the garlic in a small saute pan with the extra virgin olive oil and saute until it turns deep gold. Remove the garlic from the pan and put in the strips of pancetta. Cook them until they begin to crisp on the edges. Add the wine. Cook the wine down for 2 minutes.

Break the eggs into a pasta serving bowl, Beat them lightly with a fork. Then add the Romano, Parmigiano-Reggiano, pepper and parsley. Mix thoroughly.

Add drained, hot pasta to the bowl and toss rapidly to coat the strands well. Add the pancetta and wine. Toss again and serve immediately.

Personal Note: I also like this pasta dish a lot. I don't know that the following food folklore is true, but I've been told this dish originated during World War II when GIs were in Italy with their rations of eggs and bacon. They asked locals what they should do with it to make it tasty and apparently the answer was Pasta Carbonara. It's like breakfast pasta. Yum. And don't be afraid of the raw egg thing--as long as you've got the pasta you're adding to it very hot as well as the hot pancetta cooked in oil, and the egg has been beat sufficiently, the heat is enough to cook the egg just right. Again, yum.

Dutch Baby

Dutch Baby

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons butter
2 eggs
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup milk
Pinch (1/8 teaspoon or less) salt

Cut butter into a cast iron skillet. Heat the skillet in a 400F oven until it melts. While it's melting, mix the rest of the ingredients until combined. Pull the skillet out of the oven, pour the batter in evenly, and return to the oven. Bake until puffy and browned, about 15 to 20 minutes.

For extra super deliciousness, sprinkle lightly with powdered sugar while still hot and top with some fresh raspberries or blackberries. Strawberries would be good too! Goes great for a sunny lazy Sunday breakfast with fresh squeezed juice.

Personal Note: My parents used to make Yorkshire pudding every Christmas because they always made a huge roast beef, so the drippings were handy, and because my otherwise Spartan and health-conscious maternal grandmother inhaled the stuff. I'd never heard of Dutch Baby until very recently, but now that I have I smile in recognition (it's basically Yorkshire pudding except the fat component isn't beef drippings, it's butter). It's a cute little piece of culinary alchemy--so simple yet never-fail delicious in its transformation. It's a great homage to the power of cast iron.

Here's some photos of someone else's. Oh, here's another; that looks more like my recipe, and the results look more like mine too. And another! And another. I can't help it! It's fun to watch it puff up. :)